


CinderMullet

by CircusTalia



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cinderella - Freeform, Cinderella AU, Cinderella Elements, M/M, Male Cinderella
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-12-19 14:17:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11899518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CircusTalia/pseuds/CircusTalia
Summary: After the death of their parents, Keith is relegated to the role of servant under the petty rule of his stepbrother, Lance. With this new role change comes a nickname Keith doesn't care for, but also an opportunity that he'd never thought possible as he writes to a penpal that's more than what he seems.





	1. A Stepbrother's Grudge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and his father move in with a wealthy woman and her children. Unfortunately, Keith's new stepbrother doesn't seem to like him very much and their relationship takes a turn for the worst after a tragic event.

Out in the countryside lived a father with his young boy, Keith. They lived in a homely cabin where everything was peaceful and quiet. However, Keith's father felt lonely since the passing of his wife and wanted a better life for his son. He would occassionally go out in the city, which is where he met a lovely aristocratic woman. She, too, had lost her significant other and was raising a son of her own as well as a little girl she had recently taken in. Keith's father and the woman immediately hit it off and it wasn't long until they were wed. The woman's son, Lance, took an instant disliking to Keith. Lance had felt Keith's father stole his mother's attention and feared that Keith would replace him in his mother's heart. The only person who knew of Lance's feelings was his adopted sister, Katie. The two would go out of their way to pull pranks on Keith, often leaving Keith to be annoyed. However, on the surface, Lance would pretend to get along with Keith for the sake of his mother. 

Everything seemed manageable: the parents were happily married while the children kept their distance when no one was looking, which was made easy as Lance's family owned a vast estate with many plots of land. But things would soon take a drastic turn. Keith's father and Lance's mother planned to take a trip to a neighboring kingdom, but had been caught in a robbery that ended in their lives getting taken away. In order to ensure a financially secure future, much of the land had to be sold and many of the servants were laid off. All that was left for the children was the house and at least one plot of land. It then came down to decide who would be the rightful owner of the estate. As the youngest, Katie, who had chosen to go by Pidge from that day forward, was not able to ensure ownership and secluded herself in her room. Thus, new ownership was left between Lance and Keith. Lance, however, used this opportunity to trick Keith into thinking that only Lance could hold ownership, leading Lance to be declared the master. Lance still held envious feelings toward his stepbrother and would have preferred him living outside of the house. However, when the two were left alone to discuss their new roles, Lance got an idea.

"Hey, man. This hasn't been easy for me," Lance faked sympathy. "I know you miss your dad, but I miss my mom, too."

"I never said you didn't?" Keith asked in confusion. "Look, it's fine. I know we haven't exactly seen eye to eye, but maybe we can work things out."

"Maybe we can," Lance avoided his gaze. "You know, Pidge hasn't been taking it well either. She already lost one set of parents and a brother, so she's pretty torn up about losing another mother and father." Lance leaned his head back. "She's in so much pain that she'll probably be crying all day and all night. I don't think there'll be a moment of silence coming out of her room or anywhere near her room." Lance looked at Keith. "Hey, isn't your room across from hers?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't you think it would be trouble for you to stay in that room? I mean, I'm already getting the master bedroom now, so I won't have to hear her, but you? That's gotta suck. Unless, of course, we find another place for you to sleep in." He smiled. "Hey, I know the perfect room for you. You like space, right? You can live in the basement!"

"The basement? Are you serious, Lance?" Keith raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, that's Master Lance to you," Lance corrected. "The basement would be perfect for you. It'll remind you of your old home. Wouldn't you prefer having a room where it's less likely for someone to barge in? Think about it: you'll get your privacy, you won't have to deal with unwelcomed noise, and you can come and go as you please."

Keith pondered on it. "Hm...I guess you're right."

"Then it's settled. Off to the basement you go." Lance slapped Keith's back.

That would not be the last time Lance would manipulate Keith. Once Keith settled his things in the basement, Lance started giving Keith recommendations on what to do to pass the time. It started off with suggesting that Keith go outside and tend to the horses, the only animals left for the family to own. From there, it went to Lance suggesting that Keith take care of some of the chores around the house, under the guise that Keith might want to relive his life before the marriage. Eventually, those suggestions turned into commands, and Keith became a servant in his own home. 

As the number of servants decreased with each passing year, Keith was saddled with more responsibilities which included tending to his stepsiblings. Lance ensured that he and his sister maintained the propriety that was expected of their high social class while keeping Keith wrapped around his finger. With all of the work for Keith to do, the poor boy didn't have enough time to make himself look presentable. Thus, he was given a nickname that he didn't very much approve of: CinderMullet.


	2. Servitude and Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Keith works under his stepsiblings, he makes some unexpected friends, including one whose face he has yet to see.

Keith had grown accustomed to his stepsiblings demands. A bell system was installed in the basement where if Lance or Pidge requested his service, they would pull on a little string which would then ring one of the bells. Keith often tried to tend to the needs of his stepsiblings before retreating back to his room as he couldn't stand the ringing bells when he slept at night. Although they irritated him to no end, Keith did what he could to endure it. His father had sold the cabin after he married Lance's mother. And Lance wasn't afraid to remind Keith that his little outbursts of frustration would do him no good if he were to ever be employed by anyone else. Although it would seem that Keith's life was miserable, Keith found that his life wasn't entirely bad. Not when he could write to someone.

It had started off by curiosity. Keith had heard that there was a penpal system in place at the local post office where one could select an address or P.O. Box to write to and then have someone from there write back. He thought it was silly, but he supposed one letter wouldn't hurt. He didn't get too personal with the first letter, opting on asking the usual questions of how one is doing and what the weather was like. As he reread the letter, he decided to ask one more question: do you believe in monsters? He didn't know why he wrote that down. It was a silly question, one that only a child would ask. Instead of writing his name, he simply signed it as "K." A week had gone by and Keith was surprised to find a letter for him, or rather, a letter addressed to K. When he opened it, the other person answered all of his questions and responded to his monster question with, "I hope not. Monsters are scary. But I'd like to believe in magic." Keith smiled as he got to the signature of "H." From that day forward, Keith kept writing to H who was his first real friend. But H would not be the only friend Keith would make.

 

Keith dusted some cabinets when he heard Lance screaming upstairs. He dropped his featherduster and ran to the second floor, where Lance had been clutching to the top of one of the sofas. If the scream didn't sound desperate, Keith would have laughed at Lance's feeble expression. 

"What's wrong?" Keith asked.

"T-t-those!" Lance sniveled as he pointed a finger to the source of his fear. What he pointed at were four mice, all varying in color and size. Keith had really wanted to laugh at Lance then and there.

"Did they bite you?"

"No, they did not bite me! And it's a good thing, too! Don't just stand there, get rid of them!" Lance shivered.

Keith sighed as he knelt down and opened his hands.

"Come on." He didn't think the mice would actually come to him, so it was quite surprising when they followed his command. Keith blinked in wonder. "Hey, they actually listened to me." 

"Yeah, yeah. Big whoop. You can tame dirty little rodents," Lance slowly put his leg down. "Now, kill them. Throw them out. I don't care what you do to them. Just get them out of my sight!"

Keith carried the mice away from Lance and took them to the basement. Once there, he placed them atop his bed. They looked up at him in concern.

"Don't worry," he told them. "I'm not gonna hurt you." He rummaged through a pile of dirty clothes and pulled out an old shirt he never wore anymore. He put the shirt atop a set of drawers. "It's not much, but you can rest here." He placed the mice on top of the shirt. They all snuggled in it comfortably, with the smallest one looking up at him with curious eyes. Keith petted its head. "Hey, anyone that can scare Lance is a friend of mine." The mice squeeked in approval.

* * *

Keith prepared his family's breakfast, that of omelets and sausages. As he set everything on their plates, he made sure to take bits off of Lance's plate and place them on a napkin. He made his way back down to the basement where he fed his four hungry friends. They woke up to the placement of the food and quickly began eating. That's when one of the bells rang. The signal came from Pidge's room, whom Keith assumed was getting impatient with waiting to be served breakfast. 

"I'll bring more later when I have time to eat," he assured the mice before walking back up to the main floor. 

Keith set Pidge's plate on a tray and was about to carry it to her room before opting on putting the salt away first. He picked up the salt, but as he put the salt back in the cabinet, he was met with a sudden blow of ashes to his face. He coughed and looked to see where the ashes had come from, and noticed there was a well-hidden button where the salt normally sat on. He then saw that the ashes had been placed in a bag that was transparent and hard to detect from where it had been hidden. The bag was attached to a string much to thin for any person to notice right away. Keith knew Lance was never this try hard with his pranks and there was only one person in that household capable of such elaborate scheming.

Keith didn't even knock on the door as he entered Pidge's cluttered room. She was lying in bed, reading a book that appeared more advanced than either Lance or Keith's comprehension.

"You know, it's impolite to come waltzing in a lady's room without knocking," Pidge said without ever taking her eyes off her book. 

Keith was not amused. "And sneaking into the kitchen to leave a trap is such the pinnacle of manners."

Pidge put her book down, covering her smile from Keith's ash-ridden face. 

"Ah, I see my plan finally worked."

Keith slammed the tray on her lap. "You know, if you can leave your room to pull pranks, I think you can leave your room to get your own breakfast."

Pidge shrugged. "Eh, I don't see the need to exert myself in such things. There are matters that are worth my attention and energy. With you around, I don't have to sweat about the small stuff."

Keith groaned internally. Before he left her room, she called to him again.

"You forgot my drink."

"You'll have to wait until I feed your brother." He closed the door behind him and went to grab Lance's plate.

Despite having served in the house for years, Keith felt a little intimidated when standing in front of Lance's room. He supposed it was because the doors were longer than any in the house and that the master bedroom symbolized a degree of authority Keith could not shake off. He knocked before letting himself in, where Lance had his arms crossed and still had on his facial mask.

"You're late," Lance tapped his finger.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Keith brought the tray over to him.

"And your face is dirty. Wipe that off, CinderMullet!"

"It's Keith, and if I cleaned my face before coming in, you would have been in a grumpier mood."

Lance sneered at Keith before digging into his breakfast. 

"I suppose if you had cleaned your face, you wouldn't be living up to your name, CinderMullet," Lance spoke with his mouth full.

"Stop calling me that. And you can blame your sister for how I look."

Keith was about to leave the room when Lance stopped him.

"Don't leave yet," he wiped his mouth with a napkin. "I'm almost done. You might as well take my plate before you leave so that I won't have to ring the bell for you to come back for it."

"Gee, how awfully considerate of you."

"And Pidge should be done with her food shortly."

"Oh, right. Pidge. I was supposed to get her a drink after serving you."

"And here I was, thinking of you," Lance shook his head. "Very well. You may leave to fetch her drink. But you better come straight back here to take my things. And not just my plate, either. I have a hamper full of clothes that need washing and I expect them to be clean by the end of the day."

"Yes, Master Lance."

"I wasn't finished yet. You'll also need to polish my shoes, scrub the stairs, and....when was the last time you changed the drapes?"

"Yesterday."

"Oh...change them again. I've grown tired of looking at those colors."

"You can barely see the color on them."

"Exactly. Now hop to it."

 

After going back and forth between Lance and Pidge's rooms, Keith found enough time to eat for himself and his mice friends. He continued his chores for the rest of the day, eager to get them done so he could write back to H. H had shared with him a story he heard about the origin of where monsters under the bed came from. Keith had been enthralled by that origin story that he wanted to thank H for sharing it with him and ask them for another recipe he could try to cook. Keith could tell a lot from how H wrote. He knew H was terrified of ghost and monster stories, but was brave enough to read up on their origins. But what H seemed to really enjoy was cooking, which Keith wanted to indulge H with. He wondered if H could tell a lot about him, too. If his writing gave away what he truly thought about certain topics or what mood he was in. If H did know, then they didn't acknowledge it. Not that Keith minded. All that mattered was that H wrote back.

It was dusk when Keith finished the last of the cleaning. Dinner was being made on the stove and all he had to do was serve Lance at the table and then go back up to Pidge's room to feed her again. He served Lance first this time before placing Pidge's dinner on the tray again. When he entered her room, he nearly fell over one of her trinkets that she was messing around with.

"Careful, CinderMullet," Pidge sat in front of a desk, tightening a screw on an invention. "I'm in the middle of checking my things to make sure they still work."

Keith tiptoed across the room before setting Pidge's plate down in front of her.

"Maybe you should try organizing your stuff. Make this room less of a hazard."

"Hey, I'm not the maid here," Pidge set aside her invention to scoop up her food. "That's your job. Not mine."

"You know, Lance doesn't even let his room get this dirty."

"Your point?" Pidge chewed her food.

"Why is that Lance does a better job of making my job easier cleaning his room when you don't?"

"Hey, I don't boss you around as much as he does. You should be grateful my room is the only thing I ask you to clean."

"Oh, yeah. Because I don't also wash your plates and clothes. And it's not like I have to fetch you things you can get yourself if you just stepped out of this room more often."

"Don't get smart with me," Pidge took another bite. "It's my job to be the smart one in this house. Besides, I do leave my room. Occassionally."

"Yeah, to go to the bathroom or when Lance forces you."

"Aren't you supposed to refer to him as Master Lance?"

"Aren't you supposed to hit a growth spurt?"

"Let's not bring elements that are out of our control, CinderMullet." Pidge set her utensil down and placed her plate back on the tray. "Hey, bring me a paintbrush and a can of green paint before you head downstairs."

"Pidge, the art room is literally two doors down this room. Can't you get off your chair and walk from here and back?"

Pidge hummed. "Mmmm, nah."

Keith left the room to retrieve what she had asked for. After doing so, he carried her things and went back downstairs to complete the last of his chores before eating the leftovers of dinner. He went into the basement and turned on a lamp atop the desk and started writing to H.

_Dear H,_

_I had no idea that's where the notion of monsters under the bed came from. Do you think those sightings could hold some truth to them? I think they would. But I guess I'd prefer dealing with monsters than my family._ He paused. _Sorry. I wrote that without considering your own family state. Anyway, those omelettes turned out better than I thought. I think I'm getting better at cooking with your recipes. Do you have any more that you'd like to share? I think I might wanna improve dinner or possibly even dessert. You should send a sample of your cooking. I've been dying to taste your food. As have my friends. Stay safe._

_From,_

_K._

Keith reread the letter to make sure he wasn't missing anything or didn't screw up on any part. He wondered if he should scratch out the mention of his family. Not that he didn't think H wouldn't understand, but he also didn't want to saddle H with his own family trouble. As he hovered the pen over that sentence, he dropped it and folded the letter before slipping it into an envelope. He didn't want to keep secrets from H, and if H wanted to know more about him, then they had every right. 

He would send the letter out the next morning, but at the time, a bell rang. It came from Lance's room, and Keith dragged himself back upstairs to help out whatever it is Lance needed him for.


	3. Concern for the Prince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Queen Allura worries that her little brother, Prince Hunk, won't be able to handle the responsibilities of being king. A small comment from Duke Coran gives her an idea on how to fix that.

Overlooking the city was a castle that stood taller than any of the buildings present. It was where the Queen and her princely little brother resided, occupied with their duties to the kingdom of Altea. Queen Allura, however, chose to take on the most responsibilities, leaving her brother, Hunk, very little to do in terms of running Altea. She believed that as the oldest, she was the one that needed to worry about the affairs of the kingdom and saw to it that Hunk had nothing to worry about. He still took lessons in politics and the law, of course, but he was otherwise left to his own bidding. While one might believe Hunk was raised to be spoiled, he actually looked up to his sister's kindness and wanted to prove his own worth. Hunk would often go into the kitchen and help the cooks make meals. They eventually allowed him to try his hand at making dishes, under close supervision, of course, and were genuinely surprised at his talents at cooking.

However, as Hunk got older, Allura realized that he had very little training on how to act as a leader. While she hoped nothing bad would happen to her, she knew it was best to be prepared for the worst. A lesson she and Hunk learned the hard way after the passing of their parents. 

Allura was in the throne room when she summoned Duke Coran. He entered the room, chipper as always, holding his head up high and showing off his orange mustache.

"You wanted to speak with me, my Queen?" Coran asked.

Allura got up from the throne, her white and pink dress trailing behind her.

"Yes, Coran. It's a more...personal matter," she rubbed her elbow.

"Whatever it is you want to talk about, I'm all ears," Coran put his hands behind his ears.

Allura sighed as she stood in front of the Duke.

"I've been thinking about Hunk lately. He hasn't gotten into any trouble, but I worry about him."

"Is he sick?"

"No, thank goodness. But...I worry about whether or not he'll be able to become a reliable king to his people."

"What would make you say such a thing?"

Allura walked away from Coran and towards a family portrait that hung on the wall. The King and Queen stood tall, with Allura hanging on to her father's coat and her mother carrying a smiling, chubby infant that was Hunk. 

"Well, it was clear that as the eldest, I would be the one to inherit the throne after my parents' passing. And I never wanted to trouble Hunk with things he didn't have to worry about. But, who knows what can happen to me? If something serious happened to me, Hunk would need to take charge. And I don't think he's ready for that. Not when I've tried to shield him from those things."

"Queen Allura, your brother is a remarkable young man. He would never do anything to put his people in danger."

"I'm not denying that," she stared at her brother's baby face. "But he could get into trouble if he doesn't have anyone to help him." She faced Coran. "And while you are our most trusted friend and aide, I realize Hunk may need something more."

"What are you suggesting, your majesty?"

"What I'm saying is that Hunk may need to look for a partner who can help him run the kingdom. A marriage partner."

Coran gasped. "Queen Allura! Don't you think that's sudden? You're not even married."

"Yes, because I was trained to run a kingdom on my own. Hunk only knows so much and the pressure may be too much for him. I just want him to have someone that he can share the task with should anything happen to me."

Coran adjusted his monacle. "Queen Allura, you're not going to arrange a marriage for him, are you?"

She shook her head. "No. I wouldn't think of doing that to him. He needs someone that he feels a personal connection with. Someone he feels comfortable with."

"And who would that be? He hasn't interacted with many royals his age and he rarely leaves the castle. Unless you intend on throwing a ball for him to mingle with eligible bachelors and bachelorettes, I don't see how-"

"That's it, Coran!" Allura pointed upwards. "We shall throw a ball in Hunk's honor. We'll invite every eligible damsel and damoiseau to the event."

"Wait, Queen Allura-"

"And, with your help, Hunk is bound to come across someone he can chat up with and get to know. And from there, they'll be in touch and before you know it, they'll be married!" Allura spread her arms high. "Summon Prince Hunk immediately so we can discuss this further."

Duke Coran was perplexed by her thinking, but abided anyway. "Right away."

 

Prince Hunk was in the kitchen, preparing specialty burritos for the kitchen staff. He wrapped the last of the trailed beef and other ingredients in a tortilla when Duke Coran entered to fetch him.

"Prince Hunk, the Queen requests to speak with you immediately."

Hunk looked up after making the final fold. "Oh, is she hungry? I can deliver a burrito to her if she wants."

"She wants to speak with you about something more important."

"More important than food? Must be serious." He turned to the staff. "You guys dig in without me. Just save me a couple when I get back."

An older chef bowed his head. "Thank you, your majesty. We eagerly await your return."

Hunk followed Coran out of the kitchen and into the throne room. There, Allura turned around the moment she heard the doors open and addressed Hunk.

"Little brother, I'm glad Coran found you," she smiled. "I have wonderful news."

"Are we getting another kitchen installed in the castle?" Hunk asked eagerly.

"Er, no," Allura straightened herself. "Hunk, as prince, you know that you have certain duties you must uphold."

"Uh-huh."

"And you know that if anything should happen to me, you would have to be next in line to the throne."

"Allura, nothing bad will happen to you. You're super smart and super strong. Like, really strong," Hunk left his mouth open. "Wait. Are you sick?" He put a hand on her forehead. "Did you catch some kind of incurable disease?! Are you going to die?!"

"I'm not sick," Allura took his hand off. "And I'm not going to die. But you of all people should understand the importance of having a backup plan for a ruler of Altea." She looked up and down at him. "Do not be afraid, little brother. As I said, I want to share wonderful news with you."

"Oh, right," Hunk scratched his neck. "So, what's the news?"

"Well, I know that as queen, I have received a lot of attention by many people. And it saddens me that you haven't received your due respect or attention. Which is why I'd like to throw a ball in your honor." She clasped her hands together. "Isn't that exciting?"

Hunk raised his hands. "Wait, you want to throw me a ball? Why? It's not even my birthday."

Allura swayed her hands the other way. "Well, as I said, I don't believe you've been receiving the attention you deserve."

"Plus, it's common for princes' and princess' to have balls in their honor," Duke Coran added. "It's a symbol of their prosperity and wealth."

"Exactly. And this will be the perfect opportunity for you to-"

"You want me to find someone to marry, don't you?" Hunk put a hand on his side.

Allura blinked. "Uh....well....marriage is a sort of vital thing when one is royal...."

Coran stepped up. "Listen, your highness," he addressed Hunk. "Your sister is only thinking of what's best for this kingdom."

"Then why doesn't she get married?"

Allura sighed. "Look, I know this is sudden. But considering what happened to our parents, I don't want you to be alone if you have to take up the title of king."

Hunk turned his head. "But nothing's going to happen to you!" He looked at the floor. "You," he looked back at her, "you shouldn't have to think like that."

Allura put a hand on his cheek. "I know you feel that way. But I must." She bit her lip. "Listen, I don't expect you to get married right away. I just want you to meet someone you can form a connection with and see where that takes you." She smiled. "Besides, if I wanted you to get married right away, I would have already arranged a marriage for you."

Hunk laughed as she took her hand off him. He smiled back at her and pulled in her for a tight embrace. Although she was the older sibling, Hunk beat her in stature, so it was almost as if he were the one protecting her. 

"Thanks, sis," they pulled away. "But, if you're throwing a ball for me, I have a couple of rules."

"What rules did you have in mind, Prince Hunk?" Coran asked, readying a paper and quill.

"First, I do not want anyone to be sent away without good reason. I would like the doors to be open for all that are interested in attending."

"But if they do not have an invitation?"

"They can make up for it by having a good time." Hunk looked at the family portrait and looked proudly at his father. "After all, my father met my mother when she stumbled upon the castle."

Coran adjusted his monacle before writing down what the Prince instructed. "Very well. And your next rule."

"Rule number two: I get to cook for the event."

"You? Cook? A Prince shouldn't be cooking for events. Especially one for himself."

"Well, this prince wants to cook for his people. I know how to make the best dinner snacks." 

"You know how to make the best of any dish," Allura corrected. "Is there anything else you would like?"

"Yeah. I want you to accept whoever it is I choose to spend my time with. Don't try to pressure any particular lord or lady to latch onto me and make sure that everyone enjoys themselves, regardless of what happens."

Allura nodded. "Will do, brother."

Duke Coran was put in charge of organizing the whole event as he discussed with the royal siblings an appropriate date to throw the ball. He left them to search for all the addresses that had eligible men and women to attend the event and began designing the invitations.

 

Hunk entered his chambers, exhausted by what had happened and re-read the letter he received from K. He had been meaning to respond to K sooner, but his time with his big sister kept him occupied. He took out a pen and started writing back to K.

_Dear K,_

_I hope those monster sightings aren't true. Monsters are scary!! Though, I guess there are some monsters we simply cannot escape from._ He tapped the end of the pen before continuing. _Hey, K. I'm sure you must deal with a lot of stress when it comes to your family. I won't pressure you to tell me what's wrong, but you should know that I always take what you say to me seriously. Please do not worry about troubling me with your problems. If it helps, my older sister gave me quite the scare earlier. I thought something bad had happened to her, but she insists she's only thinking about the future. I wish she wouldn't talk like that around me, even if she feel she has a reason to. Enough about scares, though. I've attached a recipe for cinammon rolls to this letter. I wish I could send you a sample of my cooking, but it won't  happen anytime soon. There's a big event I need to get ready for. But I would love to taste your food as much as you would like to taste mine. May this letter find you in good health._

_-H_

After Hunk put the letter and his recipe in the letter he called for his carrier, Shay, to his room. She entered with a tote bag over her shoulder, awaiting for the prince's next words.

"Shay, drop this off at the post office as soon as possible," he held the envelope out. "But before you leave, grab some burritos from the kitchen. I hope your family will enjoy them."

Shay took the envelope and slid it in her bag. "You are too kind, Prince Hunk. I am not sure if I am worthy of such graces."

He smiled at her. "Hey, you're my friend. You've been so helpful to me with this whole penpal thing. Giving you and your family food from the castle isn't a big deal." His fingers brushed over K's previous letter. "I'm glad you helped me be a part of the penpal program. Talking to you and K makes me feel so...liberated. If that makes sense."

Shay put her hands together. "I'm not sure I fully understand. But if you're happy, then I am happy." She headed out of the room, carefully closing the door behind her. Hunk felt lucky to have a confidant in Shay. She never seemed to judge him and was just as excited as he was when K wrote to him. She was also careful not to tell anyone of this, for he knew it would be trouble if people found out that a prince was a part of a penpal program. Still, he wondered how K would react upon finding out that he was the prince. 

Hunk opened a drawer full of K's previous letters and dropped the last one in. He went to bed early, eagerly awaiting for K's response.


	4. Invitations and Broken Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith shows his stepsiblings the invitation to the Prince's ball. Pidge convinces Lance to make a deal with Keith that could give Keith the chance to go to the ball with them. Too bad Keith is kept running around.

Keith swept the floor when there was a knock on the door. He went to answer it, surprised to see a nicely dressed carrier standing there. A young woman of tall stature, with a soft face and a short, bob cut hair with glistening earrings. She wore the standard blue uniform, but it was glistened with golden tinsels and buttons. She carried a tote bag that had envelopes sticking out. They all looked the same, though Keith was able to take in the detail of these envelopes with the one the woman held in her hand before him.

"The royal family has saw to it that all recipients receive their invitations in person," the woman explained. 

Keith took a look at the envelope, which had the lion crest seal on it. He picked it up from her.

"Invitations?" He looked quizically back at her.

"An invitation to a most joyous event," the carrier said. "I am afraid I do not have time to explain the details. All the information you inquire about can be found within the envelope." She tipped her head to him. "Have a good day, sir."

As she left the steps of his home, Keith closed the door and reached for a letter opener in his pocket. After tearing the envelope open, there was a gleamy golden paper with dark purple ink on it. Keith saw that it was indeed from the royal family. He quickly rushed up the stairs, bumping in to Lance at the hallway.

"Watch where you're going, CinderMullet!" Lance dusted himself off. "You nearly ruined this very expensive coat." He patted the sleeves.

"Master Lance, I need to talk to you."

"If this is about payment for your services, I told you-"

"No, it's not that. It's this." Keith held the letter out.

"What is...," Lance peered at the paper before seeing the word "prince" pop up. "Give me that!" He snatched it away. "I don't want your dirty little fingers tainting this." He read the invitation out loud. "'Dear Sir or Madame, you and all those in your residency have been bestowed an invitation of a lifetime. You and your residents are invited to attend the upcoming ball that will be held in Prince Hunk's honor. We ask that you come dressed in your finest attire and have a wonderful time at the event, which will be held inside the castle. Please be sure to attend as early as possible for all attendees will have the opportunity to have their names and titles announced at the party and," Lance squinted his eyes before widening his whole face, "RECEIVE A GREETING FROM THE PRINCE HIMSELF!!" 

Lance let go of the letter and knocked furiously on Pidge's door. "PIDGE!!!!!" He swung her door open, Keith following him from behind. Pidge was on the floor, piecing together another one of her inventions when she glared at Lance.

"What is it this time, Lance?" she asked unamusingly.

"Only the best thing that's ever happened to us!" Lance stretched his arms out. "We're invited to a ball held by Altea's very own Prince Hunk!"

Pidge flinched. "This isn't a prank is it?"

"No! Look," Lance stepped out of the room momentarily to fetch the invitation. He let it drop to her hands. "See for yourself."

Pidge read the invitation silently, a look of surprise peering on her face after every line. 

"Oh my gosh! We've really been invited to the Prince's ball? I can't believe it!" Pidge shot up. Lance grabbed her hands, jumping up and down.

"I know, right?! I bet only the best of the best are allowed attendance," Lance showed off his teeth. "Everyone will see just how sophisticated and important I am that they'll have to promote me from aristocrat to noble."

"I bet a lot of geniuses will be there as well," Pidge chimed in. "Maybe I can talk with one of them to get into a good school. Better yet, maybe they'll ask me to join their academic circle once I show them the blueprints of my original inventions."

"Pidge, hush. Nerd groups are nice and all," he circled his hands, "but you're not seeing the bigger picture. One that I realized just now," he put his arm around her and leaned in close to her ear. "The Prince is going to be there, right?"

"Duh. It's his ball."

"Great, you're following me. Now, as far as we know, the Prince is single."

"Uh-huh."

"And the invitation failed to mention the attendance of other royals. That can mean only one thing." He placed a hand on her chest. "Prince Hunk is looking for a future bride or groom!" He squealed.

"Couldn't the Prince be throwing a party just for fun?" Keith asked.

"No one asked you, CinderMullet. A servant such as yourself wouldn't know how these things work." Keith was about to speak up when Lance immediately continued. "So, Pidge, I just want you to know that you're looking at the new co-Prince of Altea."

"Pfft, like you're gonna be the one to marry the Prince," Pidge sneered. "It's clear the Prince would rather have someone with a brain than someone who thinks he has looks."

"I do have the looks!" Lance stomped. "And I'm way handsomer and smarter than you. I'm older than you, remember?"

"Right. I don't think age before beauty really applies in this case."

"How dare you? You're just jealous that you were the adopted one."

"At least Mom chose to have me."

Lance gasped. Keith raised a finger.

"But if the Prince is looking for someone to marry, wouldn't you increase your chances of getting together with him by learning his likes and dislikes? I mean, he could have a type-"

"Don't butt in, CinderMullet!" Lance and Pidge said simultaneously. Lance picked Pidge off the floor, dancing with her across her room.

"Imagine, Pidge. Being around all those important people. The ones that really matter in society. And we were declared important to society!" 

"Yeah. I bet there'll be so much to do. I've never been inside a castle before. Imagine all the rooms and stuff that we'll probably never see again."

"I'll admit, you guys are making the ball sound really fun," Keith spoke up again. "I hope I can make myself look presentable there."

Lance seized the dance. He put Pidge down as he stared at his stepbrother.

"You? At the ball?"

"Well, yeah. The invitation said that all who lived here were invited."

Lance laughed as he shook his head. "No, no. I don't think you quite understand what this invitation really means. When it says, 'all those in your residency,' it's referring to anyone that's the same social class as the head of the household. The only other person living here that would qualify for that is Pidge. Even if she is adopted."

"Knock it off," Pidge punched his side.

"Ow," Lance pressed his side. "The point is, you are not of the same rank."

"Well, I should be. My dad married your mom before they died, therefore, I hold as much of an aristocratic title as you," Keith glared at Lance.

"And I was named Master of the household when they passed away, which means what I say goes!"

"I'm going!"

"You're staying and that's final!" Lance shot a finger down.

Pidge got in between the two. "Can't we work out some sort of deal?" She looked back and forth between the two. "Look, I get why you don't want Keith to go-" 

Keith huffed.

"-but we should give him a sporting chance," Pidge continued. "Wouldn't it be more fun if we turned this into a bet?"

"Hm....," Lance tapped his cheek. "Oh, fine. I suppose it would be funny to humor him. Alright, CinderMullet, here's the deal. If you can get your chores done, help Pidge and I get ready, and make yourself look presentable, then you may come with us to the ball. Otherwise, you stay here that night. Is that fair enough for you?"

"I don't know if fair is the right word," Keith held his hand out. "But I agree to those terms." 

Lance walked right past him. "Good. We can finally get started on getting our outfits done." He moved two of his fingers. "Come along, CinderMullet. My measurements aren't going to be made themselves."

 

From that day to the day of the ball, Keith was kept on his toes. When he wasn't doing his chores, he was helping either Lance or Pidge with their outfits. It was even more time consuming and troubling when Lance wanted to take Pidge into town with him to select the right clothes. Lance was outside of her room as Keith tried to drag her out of her room. She clutched to her bed post, despite the constant heaving of Keith. Lance ended up having to help heave Pidge out of the room, a rare act of aide he gave Keith.

"Come on, Pidge!" Lance stretched her legs. "You need to come out of this room for more than the toilet and pranks!"

"Keith could just take my measurements to the shop!" Pidge argued. "I don't care what you choose for me to wear!"

"You are getting hair extenstions, too!" Lance and Keith tugged. "If you're gonna start living in the palace, you need to start going out in public! And that starts by you stepping foot out of this room!" Pidge kicked Lance in the chin.

It had been a struggle, but the stepbrothers finally managed to yank Pidge out her room. Lance was quick to carry her outside where the carriage was waiting. Keith had planned to use the time they would be away to fix a suit for himself, but the idea was quickly shot down when Lance called to Keith from the carriage window.

"You might as well take advantage of this opportunity and scrub her room sparkly clean."

Keith sighed as he saw the carriage ride off. He had very little time to make his suit. He didn't want to get anything as fancy as his stepsiblings, but even managing to sew together a simple tuxedo proved to be difficult. Preparations for the ball were so time consuming that he barely managed to write anything to H. Keith hoped H didn't mind the letters being shorter, although he assumed H was preparing for the ball as well since H took longer than usual to respond. It made him a little happy to think about H being at the ball. If H were going to the ball, too, then perhaps they could finally meet. And for Keith, that was more than enough for him to try and make it.

The mice watched as Keith struggled to complete his tasks, so they decided to help him out. When Keith wasn't present, they snuck out of the basement to collect material to compose an elegant suit out of. They went inside Lance's room, careful not to be spotted by him and making sure they picked up materials he did not care for. They were underneath a closet, watching as Keith sewed Lance's coat sleeves, with Lance discarding a bow tie and piece of polyester.

"Hmph, they don't make me shine as much as they should," Lance declared. He ushered Keith away as he examined himself in the mirror. He tossed the coat to the floor. "And this coat doesn't exactly scream 'future fiance.' Looks like I'll have to order another one. Maybe I should go with an overlay that mimicks a former Altean king."

As the two filed out of the room, the mice used that opportunity to drag the materials through the vents. When they returned to the basement, they begun working on putting the suit together. Although it was turning out nicely, the mice felt there was something more important missing. That's when they realized the suit lacked a tie or bow. They went back to Lance's room, who was present but failed to notice them in the same hiding spot from earlier. Lance was alone as he rummaged through a box of some sort. He threw away a bow and a pocket square. 

"I don't know why a man would leave his daughter these," he uttered under his breath as he kept rummaging. He pulled out a lace necklace with an opal in the middle. "This is way too simple. I thought her parents were upper class." Lance then found a chained tear-dropped shaped emerald necklace. "Now this is what I'm talking about." He got up from his bed. "Oh, Pidge. I found something for you."

The mice took the bow and pocket square from the trash and returned to the basement to complete Keith's attire.

* * *

The day of the ball arrived. Keith helped his stepsiblings step into their clothes. Pidge wore a green gown with the emerald necklace to compliment the appearance. Her hair extensions went past her shoulders, and make-up was on her face. Lance wore a deep blue tuxedo with a silver vest and tie. His hair was slicked back and he smiled at himself in the mirror. Keith leaned against the wall in defeat, hanging his head down low as his stepsiblings waited for their ride in the living room. 

"What's wrong, CinderMullet?" Pidge asked. "Aren't you going to get ready?"

"I won't," Keith answered without looking at her.

"And why is that?" Lance turned his head to him.

"I don't have anything for the ball...," Keith mumbled.

"Sorry, couldn't hear that. Mind repeating that?"

"I said I don't have anything for the ball!"

"Sheesh. Calm down, CinderMullet. We can't all get what we want. At least you'll have the house to yourself. You're free to do whatever while we're away."

Keith walked out of the living room and stomped down to the basement. When he turned on the light, he was surprised to see his mice friends on his bed, with a sheet covering something.

"What's up?"

The mice got off the sheet as they grabbed the ends of it with their teeth to reveal a modest, but lovely black tuxedo. It was assembled seamlessly and didn't have a crease in sight. Keith picked up the suit, putting a hand on the white dress shirt.

"You did this? For me?"

The mice nodded. 

He smiled. "Thank you. I think I might still have my dad's old shoes that can go with this." He threw the suit back on the bed as he searched the basement for his father's belongings. He took out a pair of slick dress shoes and threw his head back in joy. "This is perfect."

 

Keith ran back up to the living room.

"Guys, I'm going!" he shouted with a thrilled tone in his voice.

Pidge and Lance looked up to see Keith nicely put together. He did not look as extravagant as them, but they couldn't deny he looked nice. Keith pressed his hands on the pants.

"Well? What do you think?"

"Wow, you managed to pull through," Pidge said. 

Lance squinted at her before paying attention to Keith. He leaned his head forward slightly to notice what Keith's outfit was made of. 

"Yeah, you did...," Lance got up and circled around his stepbrother. "You must have been up all night getting this done."

"Oh, I-"

"How funny. Just moments ago you were saying you didn't have anything for the ball. And now, you're looking ready as ever. Were there some finishing touches you wanted perfect?"

"Uh...I just thought I wouldn't get this ready in time. And I did."

Lance reached for the bow. "Or maybe you needed time to steal our stuff."

"What?"

Lance shot a look at Pidge. "Pidge, do you remember how I said some of your dad's stuff went missing?"

"You mean my biological dad? Yeah, why?"

Lance's fingers dropped. "I believe I found them." He gestured to the bow and pocket square. "On him."

Pidge furrowed her brows. "You stole my dad's belongings?!"

"What? No, I-" before Keith could defend himself, Pidge yanked the bow off his collar, the buttons around that area popping open, and pulled out the pocket square. She grabbed her purse and stuffed them in there. "Pidge, I had no idea-"

"Zip it, CinderMullet," Lance zagged his fingers across his face. He ripped Keith's coat sleeve off. "The next time you get butter fingers, maybe try stealing from someone who doesn't actually live in this estate." The sleeve fell off Keith's arm. Hooves were heard outside the door. "Maybe you can take this time alone to think about what you've done. I expect a written apology from you first thing tomorrow morning." He put a hand on Pidge's back. "Come, Pidge. We have a ball to go to. And a Prince to woo."

They exited the estate without another word, although Lance had a wicked grin neither Keith nor Pidge could see. Once they were out of the door and the carriage drove off, Keith's body shook up as he swung his hand and broke a nearby vase. He ran out of the house, into the open land. The horses shot their heads up as they stared at Keith running before throwing himself to the ground. He smashed a fist in the grass. 

"How could I be so stupid?!" Keith seethed. He laughed. "The one chance I get at having a night to enjoy myself. My chance of maybe, just maybe meeting the one person I could talk to." Tears came running down his face. "I can't get a break. I'll never get a break." He laid on the ground and cried. The mice were outside, keeping their distance from him as they felt it was their fault and that Keith was rightfully angry with them, too. 

"Don't cry, Keith. It's not so bad," a mysterious voice said.

Keith lifted his head, not seeing anything. And then there was a flash of white light.


	5. Magical Transformations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith receives a visit from his Fairy Godbrother, who gives the poor boy a much needed makeover.

From the flashing white light appeared a tall, broad figure. As the light cleared, the figure was revealed to be a man with a white forelock and scar, wearing a form-fitting light blue robe with a hood over his head. Keith wiped his nose and stared at the man who removed the hood and smiled.

"Who are you?" 

"Why, I'm-"

"Are you an alien?!" Keith pulled his fists to his chest in excitement.

"No...," the man answered. "I'm your fairy godbrother."

"My what?"

"Fairy godbrother. My apologies. Allow me to explain." The fairy helped Keith to his feet. "A fairy godrelative is someone who comes to a human in their time of need. Our job is to use our magic to help you fulfill your heart's desires. Now-"

"You're suppose to come in my time of need?"

"Yes," before the man could finish speaking, Keith shoved him. 

"Where were you?!" Keith gritted his teeth as he glared at the fairy. "Where were you when my mom died? When my dad died?!" Keith made the fairy back away with every step forward. "Why didn't you come to me then? How dare you. You don't get to show up like this when everything's gone downhill!" Keith started to cry again. He buried his face in his hands. "It's not fair."

The man looked at Keith dishearteningly. "Keith, I'm sorry." He put his hands on Keith's shoulders. Keith immediately flinched, but found himself relaxing upon the fairy's touch. "You've been through so much. I'm afraid I don't get to make the calls on when I can go to someone who needs my help. Please, let me make it up to you. Let me help you out this one time. And if you're still not happy with me, I'll be sure to never bother you again."

Keith sniffed. He wiped his nose as he nodded. The fairy godbrother removed his hands from the boy.

"Right. Let's get to work. Tell me, what's troubling you tonight?"

"I was supposed to go to the ball that's held at the castle, but my stepsiblings forbade me to go." Keith sighed. "I honestly had no idea that I was wearing stuff that belonged to them."

"I wouldn't let that bother you," the fairy godbrother looked at the mice who watched the whole thing. "Your little friends believed those items wouldn't be missed since they were tossed away."

Keith looked at the man in shock. "You can understand them?"

He smiled. "I understand all creatures. That's one of the perks of being a fairy." The mice squeeked. "Looks like your friends want to help you out as well." He looked at Keith again. "Keith, I'm gonna help you get to that ball."

"Really?"

"Mhmm." The fairy godbrother pulled out a wand from his sleeve. "Let's see. In order to get to the ball, you'll need some mode of transportation. A carriage no doubt. Do you by any chance have any vegetables or fruit that won't be missed?"

"Uh...," Keith looked around. He spotted a patch of pumpkins that had not been used. "There's those." He pointed to them.

"Perfect," the fairygodbrother lifted his wand and waved it like an orchestra stick. One of the pumpkins popped up, the vines around it serving as its feet as it landed. The closer the pumpkin came, the larger it grew. It became more refined with each step, losing its plant-like appearance in favor of an equisite, round carriage. It stopped a few feet away from the two of them, shinning brilliantly, wheels appearing to be sturdy, and covered in silver and gold. Keith let out a whistle.

"That is one sweet ride," he uttered.

"Yes, but a carriage is no good without a rider or horses."

"If it's horses you're worried about, there are a couple in the stables."

The fairy godbrother shook his head. "No, no. I believe in giving all creatures the chance to be something they never thought they'd be." The mice squeeked at the fairy godbrother's feet. "Your friends would like to help you out." 

Keith looked at the mice. "What? No, you guys don't have to worry about it. I know it wasn't your fault and-" One of the mice crawled to Keith's foot, placing its paws on his shoe and looking at him with pleading eyes. "If it's what you want."

"Good. Now, I'm going to need you to step back."

The mice spread out in front of them. The fairy godbrother waved his wand and swirls of light engulfed the mice. With another flashing light, the mice reappeared as horses, who still retained their multi-colored fur. They neighed in approval and admired one another's looks. 

"Looking good," Keith put a hand on one of their snouts. The horses gathered around him and one of them playfully chewed on his head, leaving behind a blob of saliva. "Ewww." Keith and the horses laughed. 

"Alright, alright. You four, get in positions." 

The horses lined up in front of the carriage, reins appearing on their faces as they were attaced to the vehicle. The fairy godbrother walked over to the stables and opened the gate. The real horses pranced around in the field. 

"As for you two," the fairy godbrother lifted his wand, "you two shall be alleviated the burden of carrying weight on your backs for one night. You will become the driver and footman of this ride." 

With the wave of his wand, the horses were engulfed in light and re-emerged as humans. Keith ran up to them, looking at them in awe. 

"How are you feeling?" 

One of the former horses smiled as she replied, "Weird, but in a good way." She hopped aboard the driver's seat while her companion stood in the back of the carriage. 

The fairy godbrother nodded in approval. "Well, I'd say my job is done."

"Wait," Keith called out. "I know you've done so much for me, and I am grateful, but you wouldn't by any chance have a spare set of clothes, would you?"

The fairy godbrother eyed Keith and gasped. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to give you a new wardrode. Hold still. This'll only take a second." 

He waved his wand again, the magic peering out of it lifting Keith above the ground. Keith's body glowed as sprinkles of magic hopped around. His coat became longer in the back and turned into a crimson red while his vest and dress shirt became black like his pants. From his chest pocket emerged a tiger lily with purple streaks within the petals. Keith landed safely back on the grass, looking over himself to see his new look.

"I look amazing," Keith said. "You outdid yourself, Fairy Godbrother. But, what if my stepbrother or stepsister sees me?"

"Worry not. There's a special cloaking magic that came with the wardrobe. While people will still see you, they won't retain a clear memory of your face. I have one more item I'd like to give you." The fairy godbrother gestured to the shoes. "Perhaps you'd prefer something more comfortable?"

"Oh, actually," Keith clicked his feet together, "these are my father's shoes."

"Would it be alright if you removed them so I don't change them?"

Keith looked down. He slipped his shoes off, his socks serving as the only protection for his feet. The fairy godbrother gave a little swift and Keith's feet were covered in slick, red leather shoes that matched his coat. He lifted one foot up to see that it was so polished, he could make out his reflection.

"Woah. I never knew shoes could be this clean. And I've spent years cleaning for my stepsiblings."

The fairy godbrother giggled. "Consider these shoes my gift to you. Unlike everything else here, these shoes will never fade. Your feet will never ache when you wear them. They are meant for you and you alone. Unless you decide to give up ownership if you're still mad at me."

Keith smiled. He grabbed his fairy godbrother's arm and pulled him in for an embrace. 

"Thank you, Fairy Godbrother. This is the nicest act anyone has ever done for me in a long time."

"Please, call me Shiro." They let go of one another. "Your father's shoes will be back in your room. In the meantime, I do have to make a few things clear."

"Sure. What's up?"

"As I said just now, your shoes are the only magical property that will not fade. Everything else, from the carriage to the transformed animals, shall go back to their original forms in time."

"And how long from now will that be?"

"Midnight to be exact."

"Midnight? Why?"

"I'm afraid fairy godrelatives can only disperse so much magic to any one human. You'll have to return to the estate by then."

"I understand."

"If you understand, get inside. You have a party to get to."

As Keith stepped foot on the carriage, he turned to Shiro once more. 

"Shiro. May I ask one more thing of you? It'll be quick."

"Of course. What do you have on your mind?"

Keith grabbed a hold of the footman. "Promise me you'll keep in touch, even after tonight."

Shiro blinked and nodded. "I will." He lightly slapped his shoulder. "Go on, now. I can't stop time for you and you're running late as it is."

The footman helped Keith into his seat and closed the door. He gave the signal to the driver who made the horses ride off. Shiro looked on as the carriage disappeared in sight before disappearing himself and returning Keith's father's shoes to their original place.


	6. The Ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the ball in motion, Keith and Hunk meet at last, although neither knows the other's true identity.

At the castle, guests gathered around. The doors and gates were wide open. All in attendance wore fanciful clothes and chatted amongst themselves. However, some of the younger guests were filing in line to await their names and titles to be announced and be greeted by Prince Hunk. Queen Allura sat atop a balcony suite, donning a puffy blue gown and a glittering silver crown. Duke Coran was at her side as she sat on her seat, examining the partygoers through her binoculars. She kept a close eye on her brother, who was standing at the end of a flight of stairs, giving his brief graces to the guests. Prince Hunk had on an extravagant gold suit with an orange sash across his body. His dark brown hair was neatly combed back as he flattened his shirt, feeling a bit self conscious of his stomach sticking out. 

"Sir Lance and Lady Katie," a spokesperson announced. 

The brother and sister duo rushed before Prince Hunk.

"I thought I told you to tell them to call me Pidge," Pidge whispered as she forced her smile to stay on.

"Oh, quit complaining," Lance whispered back. "What kind of event announces nicknames?"

They ceased their chatter once they were in front of the Prince.

"Welcome," Prince Hunk spread his arms. "It's a pleasure to have you here."

"The pleasure is ours, your highness," Pidge bowed.

"And might I say, you are looking ravishing tonight, your highness," Lance said. "If I may be blunt, you are the crown jewel of our fair Altea. You may formally be called a prince, but in my heart you'll always be a king." He winked at the Prince.

"...Right....," Hunk nodded. "Well, please, help yourselves to the snack bar. There's lots to choose from and the kitchen staff did an excellent job of helping out."

A guard whispered in their ears, informing them that their time was up. They moved along, joining the rest of the party.

"Did you see the way the Prince looked at me? I'm telling you, Pidge, the Prince has fallen for my boyish charm," Lance fanned his coat.

"Yeah, you're really the pinnacle of charm," Pidge replied sarcastically. "If we're lucky, there might be some nobles here with low standards." 

As the two walked away, more guests continued to be announced and made themselves present to the Prince. After the last of them, Allura removed her binoculars.

"Oh, Coran, I don't get it," Allura placed a finger on her lips. "My brother hasn't taken an interest in any of the guests."

"Perhaps he's just shy," Coran cleaned his monocle. "My Queen, wouldn't you like to join them down there?"

"It wouldn't be right." Allura twirled her binoculars. "This ball is exclusively for my brother. I don't want to hog all the attention." She slumped back into her seat. "I don't know why Hunk refuses to put his crown on. It would help him attract the right suitor."

"Ah, Queen Allura. Remember what the Prince said: he wants you to respect whomever he spends time with tonight."

"Hm, you're right."

"Fear not, Queen Allura. These things take time. Imagine, a lovely person that walks through the door and makes their way to the floor. Prince Hunk being attracted to this stranger and approaches them. The two then chat it up and before you know it, they're dancing together."

Immediately after Coran said those words, Keith entered the palace. He looked inside the castle in awe, taking in the brilliance of it all. He felt a bit overwhelmed with how crowded it was and at the stares people started giving him. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. Thus, he ran to the snack bar, standing idly by as he watched everyone else have a good time. Keith didn't know how he was ever going to find H. They had remained anonymous and not once did either describe their physical features. Keith was beginning to feel as if coming here was a mistake. And then, a handsome stocky young man with brown skin walked over to Keith.

 

Hunk had seen the boy with the black hair, red coat and tiger lily from afar. He looked so serious, but also so lost. Hunk felt compelled to help him out.

"Excuse me," Hunk said. "I'm sorry. I didn't see you come in. How are you, good sir?"

"Oh," Keith replied snapped out of his trance. "I'm doing quite fine. Thanks."

Hunk looked at the hors d'oeuvres on the table. He got a plate and started setting a few on top of it. He held the plate out to Keith.

"Would you like to try the food? It's good, I swear."

Keith picked a delicacy from the plate and popped it into his mouth. The flavors blended so well together that he couldn't mask his joy.

"That's delicious," Keith picked another one or two and ate. "I knew palace food would be something, but I never thought it'd be this good."

"I'm glad you like it. Actually," Hunk felt his face flush, "I'm the one who made it."

"You made this?" Keith asked with his mouth full. He swallowed before saying, "All by yourself?"

"I had some help," Hunk answered. "But I did write the recipe and made sure every piece was made to perfection."

"That's incredible," Keith said. "I actually have a friend that likes to cook, too."

"Really?"

"Yeah. They send me recipes that I try out at home. I just wish I could try their cooking for once."

"But if they're your friend, why haven't you eaten their cooking?"

Keith shifted his gaze. "Because I...haven't actually met them in person. I talk to them through letters. I was hoping I could meet them here tonight." Keith stared forward and put his hands on the table behind him. "But then I realized I don't even know what they look like or that their real name is. And they don't that information about me, either."

Hunk set the plate down and stood beside Keith.

"This friend of yours...they wouldn't by any chance go by a letter, would they?"

"Yeah, they do?"

"And you go by one, too?"

"Yes."

Hunk turned to Keith's side. "K?"

"Yeah, how did," Keith widened his eyes as he turned to Hunk. "H?" 

They snorted and unconsciously grabbed the other's hands. 

"Guess you tried my cooking after all."

"Guess so." 

Hunk tugged Keith's hand. "C'mon. We can keep talking on the dance floor. Don't worry. I won't let go."

Keith nodded as he was led away into the dance.

 

Back atop the balcony, Allura looked on at the guests, wishing she had brought something to entertain herself with. She was about to retreat to her bedroom when she saw a familiar figure among the dancers. She took her binoculars out and saw her brother dancing with someone else.

"Coran, come look!" She pulled Coran forward, extending his monocle so that he could get a better view of the sight.

"Is that...Prince Hunk?! With another person?!"

"It is! You were right, Coran. He did find someone after all." She paid attention to the other person. "Although, I'm afraid I don't recall seeing this guest come in. Do you?"

"No, I'm afraid not."

"Go ask the spokesperson if they know who that is. And keep an eye on the two of them. I want to know every detail of Hunk's new boyfriend!"

"Yes, your majesty." Duke Coran left the balcony in search of the spokesperson.

 

Hunk and Keith danced together closely, speaking in the other's ear. Hunk had a hand on Keith's waist while Keith had his hand on Hunk's shoulder. As they danced, many people watched in awe. Among those watching were Keith's stepsiblings. Pidge was in the middle of trying to squeeze her way into a group of highly esteemed professors when Lance pulled her away.

"Pidge, look," Lance pointed to the dance floor. "Someone's actually dancing with the Prince!"

"I don't believe it," Pidge put a hand on her hip. "I didn't think anyone would actually get to be anywhere near him."

"I know," Lance crossed his arms. "That should be ME in the Prince's arms!"

"Correction: I think you mean me," Pidge pressed a thumb on her chest. 

"Oh, please. Nobody ever falls for the nerd."

"And no one falls for the try-hard."

Lance stared daggers at the person dancing with Prince. He couldn't help but feel that he had known him somewhere. "Honestly, who does that guy think he is? With those tacky shoes, and that overgrown coat, and that hair...," Lance paused. He walked away from Pidge to try and get a closer look, but was immediately blocked by the other guests who came to watch the dance. He jumped up and down, but could not get a clearer view of the pair. He walked back to Pidge. "Something's not right and I'm going to find out, one way or another."

 

After the dance, Hunk walked Keith away from the dance floor. 

"Sorry if my dancing was a little awkward," Keith apologized. "I've never been taught how to dance before."

"Hey, dancing isn't really my thing, either," Hunk said. "That's one more thing we know about each other."

"Yeah." 

"Hey, wanna get out of here? There's more than one part of the castle opened to patrons."

"Are you sure that's alright?"

"As long as we're together it is."

Hunk led Keith away from the party and took him behind the palace. The back of the palace still had people, albeit in fewer numbers. It mainly consisted of couples who walked along the paths. Hunk and Keith made their way to a gazebo that was far from everyone else and sat on a bench.

"You know what I found out tonight?" Keith asked.

"What?"

He wrapped himself around Hunk's arm. "I found out magic is real. It was how I got here." Keith nuzzled his face on Hunk's sleeve. "And I found out that you're even better in person."

Hunk rested his head atop Keith's. "I'm glad you and I agree magic exists. But, if you're intimidated by me-"

"Why would I be intimidated by you?" Keith looked at Hunk.

"Oh, uh..," Hunk scratched his face.

Keith stretched his neck up and planted a kiss on Hunk's cheek. "Your size doesn't bother me, if that's what you're worried about. I just hope you don't think I'm too fragile for you."

Hunk laughed as he squeezed Keith's hand. "Nah. I would never think that." Hunk slipped his arm away from Keith for a moment as he removed his shoes. "Man, my feet are killing me. Don't you want to take your shoes off, too?"

"Oh, no, I'm good." Keith looked down at his red leather shoes. "These are actually quite comfy."

"C'mon, man. I can't be the only one without shoes here."

Keith shook his head as he took his shoes off. "There. Happy?"

"I am," Hunk held his arm out for Keith to cling on to again. They returned to their positions, except Keith took to squeezing Hunk's arm.

"You feel so strong. Do you workout?"

"Yeah, sometimes. I'm kind of expected to, especially since, as my sister likes to put it, 'anything can happen.'"

"She likes to prepare you for the worst, right?"

"Yeah...," Hunk sighed. "I understand why, though. We lost our parents at a young age. She had to take up a lot of responsibilities that day forward. It's been hard on her, but I want to prove that I can help out sometimes, too."

"I'd know about taking on responsibilities," Keith stared at the castle. "I lost my parents when I was young, too. And my stepsiblings decided to saddle me with all the housework."

"Really? Don't they help around the house?"

"Nope," Keith shifted his weight. "My stepbrother's the worst. He's always giving me work to do and expects me to call him master. My stepsister is incredibly lazy. She almost never leaves her room. But I think it's because she lost both her biological parents and adopted parents."

"She's adopted?"

"Yeah, she became my stepbrother's sister before we all became stepsiblings. I imagine that's why he doesn't treat her the same way he treats me." 

"They still shouldn't be treating you so cruelly."

"I know. But I have nowhere else to go."

"You don't have friends who can help?"

"My friends are mice."

"Oh...," Hunk sighed. "I don't have many friends myself. And none of them can really help me, either." Hunk realized that might have sounded wrong. "Don't get me wrong, it's not that they don't want to. It's just, my situation is complicated for any person to get involved in."

"Yeah. Maybe we should start a club called Complicated Situation."

Hunk chuckled. "Yeah, I like that name."

The two sat there in silence, admiring the view. Neither knew the last time they had felt so at peace. They knew their troubles wouldn't disappear that night, but it was okay. Having each other's company made everything stand still. Keith lifted his head.

"You know, now that I think about it, I don't know why my stepsiblings were so excited to see the prince tonight."

Hunk felt his pulse stop. "What?"

"The prince. They made such a big deal about marrying him, but he didn't even show up to his own party."

"Oh....," Hunk felt his legs shake, "is that so?"

"Have you seen the prince tonight?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"Oh, that's right. You were the one who cooked the food. Of course you would have had to see him." Keith shook his head. "Sorry. That slipped my mind. But anyway, the least the prince could have done was thanked you for setting up the snack bar. I bet he didn't seeing as how he didn't even check up on his own guests. Prince or no prince, that man should learn a thing or two about being a good host." Keith huffed. 

"Well, I wouldn't say the prince is that bad," Hunk tried to reason. "At least he has a unique...name?" Hunk shrugged.

"Oh, speaking of names, I'm sorry. I'm sure you're tired of us calling each other H and K. What's your actual name?"

"Well, it's-"

Fireworks were set off. Hunk didn't know his sister arranged for fireworks. The two stared in amusement. However, Keith then noticed a nearby clocktower that indicated it was only fifteen minutes before midnight. 


	7. Chase and Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith rushes to leave the ball before the spell is broken, not realizing what he left behind.

Keith tried to remove his arms from Hunk slowly and subtely. As Keith lifted his hands, Hunk slipped his arm off and put it around Keith's body. Keith's face flushed. On the one hand, it felt so good to be this close to his newly found beloved. On the other hand, the spell was going to be broken soon. Keith squirmed in Hunk's grasp and pretended to cough. Hunk let go of him.

"Oh, sorry," Hunk apologized. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Keith replied. "I just...uh...I have to go," Keith stood up and gathered his shoes. 

"Wait, go? But the party's not over yet. If you're tired, I could find a room and-"

"No, it's just, I'm not supposed to be here long." Keith turned his face. "I'm sorry. I'm really glad I got to meet you, H. You were the main reason I wanted to come here in the first place."

"I was?" Hunk's face lit up.

Keith cursed himself for having to leave. Especially with how enamored he was with that face. But when Keith glanced back at the clock, midnight was fast approaching. He didn't bother putting his shoes on as he quickly fled the gazebo.

"Goodbye, H."

"K, wait!"

Keith picked up his pace, Hunk following behind him. Keith pushed against the waves of people in his way while Hunk kept apologizing for every person he bumped into. As Keith entered the castle again, one of his shoes slipped through his fingers. He didn't notice as he kept trying to get to the front of the castle as quickly as possible. Hunk took notice of the red leather shoe. He picked it up and held it up in the air as he continued to call after the one who had stolen his heart.

Nearby, Coran was speaking with the spokesperson, who did not know anything about the young man dancing with the Prince.

"I'm sorry, Grand Duke," the spokesperson said after they looked through the last of the guests' names, "but I'm afraid that guest did not give me their name."

"Oh, and I have no idea where they are now," Coran complained.

Just then, Keith rushed past them with Hunk calling him. Coran sped up next to Prince Hunk.

"Prince Hunk, there you are," Coran jogged. "Would you mind giving me the name of the person you danced with?"

"Not now, Coran," Hunk said. "I'm in the middle of trying to get him to stay."

"Prince Hunk, I'm surprised. The Queen will surely be glad to hear this."

A group of young socialites gasped as they saw Prince Hunk carrying a red leather shoe. They quickly circled him, cooing and awwing at him.

"Prince Hunk!" they all shouted. There were mixes of requests to have a dance with him or to engage in conversation with him. Hunk tried to decline them as politely as he could, but he saw Keith's figure getting farther and farther away from him. 

"Uh...Coran, a little help," Hunk begged.

Coran took the shoe from the Prince. "Worry not, your majesty. We shall find them." Coran sprinted to Keith. "Wait, good sir! Wait!"

Keith paid little heed to the calls. Once he was outside, he flew down the castle steps. Luckily, his coach was waiting for him up front with the footman opening the door once Keith was in clear view.

"Enjoy the ball?" the footman asked.

"We'll talk later," Keith hopped on. "But we need to go, now!"

The footman closed the door as the driver heeded the horses to go. The horses pranced as fast as they could, not caring what was bumped into or what they nearly ran over. Coran took to a horse that was readily available and tried to chase after them. Keith looked back at the clock tower in the distance. It was only five minutes till midnight and they were nowhere near the estate. He opened the window that let him speak to the driver.

"Hey, we're gonna need to speed this up," he warned. "Midnight isn't far."

"Of course," the driver gave a mischievous grin as she commanded the horses to go faster with the reins in her hands. 

The carriage increased by a phenomenal speed. It was a surprise that the wheels managed to stay on this whole time. Their speed was so fast that they managed to outrun Coran, who stopped his horse as he saw them driving dangerously across the city. The footman behind Keith's carriage felt nauseated. 

"Can't we slow down a little?" the footman asked.

"No can do, buddy," the driver responded. "I never knew humans had the same exhiliration for speed as horses. Let me take this in until the spell's broken."

They weren't far from the estate now. But the seconds drew closer to twelve a.m. At the mark, the carriage began to grow squishy, the wheels got caught in the vines, and the animals started growing their natural features again. Keith kicked the door and everyone jumped off. What was left was a pumpkin that had its entrails fill the street, four panting mice, and two horses that looked on in curiosity. Keith looked down to see his suit tear off. The red colors flushed away as they reverted back to black, the sleeve of his coat detaching itself from the rest of the suit. The tiger lily in his coat pocket had its petals fall down and wither away once they landed on the floor. But there was one thing that remained. Keith brought the red leather shoe in his hand closer. It still shined.

"I guess Shiro was right," he said to himself. He chuckled. "I guess I could keep this as a momento of what happened tonight." He crouched, lifting the top part of the shoe. "C'mon, guys. You've done enough running for today."

The mice made their way inside the shoe before Keith stood up, carrying them. The horses tried to offer Keith a ride, but he shook his head. He walked alongside them to the house. He wasn't anticipating writing that apology letter, but he was happy that he at last knew who H was. As soon as he finished writing the apology letter, he would write to H and ask to meet him again.

* * *

Coran returned to Prince Hunk with bad news: the mysterious person got away. 

"Aw, man," Hunk put his shoulders down in defeat, "and we were having such a great time. Or at least, I thought we were."

"Worry not, Prince Hunk. Surely we could find this mystery suitor. Tell me, did they tell you their name?"

"Er, not exactly," Hunk tried to explain. "I mean, I never really got to know their real name." 

"What do you mean 'real name?'" Coran looked at Hunk suspiciously.

"Nothing! Nothing important," Hunk looked away. "I just know that we have to find them. Something could have happened to them."

"Fair enough," Coran took out a quill and paper. "Just give me their description and we'll start the search."

"Right, I remember they," Hunk paused. He tried to recall what K had looked like. But all he got was a blur. "I...don't remember actually."

"Not even what they were wearing?"

Hunk's memory grew fuzzy. Everytime he tried to recall an aspect of K, there was no clear image.

"No...," Hunk shook his head. "Wait, Coran, you saw them, too. Don't you remember what they looked like?"

"Of course I-," Coran stopped himself. He couldn't recall what the mystery person looked like either, despite having gone after them mere moments ago. "No, I'm afraid I don't recall a thing."

Hunk looked at Coran's hands, which still held the red leather shoe.

"Wait, Coran," Hunk pulled the shoe away, "this. This is it!"

"What's it, Prince Hunk?"

"This shoe," Hunk said. "K was wearing this shoe!"

"K?"

"Er, the person I was dancing with tonight. That's sort of the only nickname I can give them now, right?" Hunk shrugged.

"Right. Although, I'm not sure if a shoe is the best way to find someone."

"Do we have anything else?"

Coran lifted his monocle. "No, I suppose not. But your sister won't be very happy about this."

"Coran, do you have to tell her?"

"I'm afraid I must. Especially if you plan on searching for this person."

"Fine..."

Coran put a hand on Hunk's shoulder. "Worry not, your highness. I'll handle this." 

Once Coran left, Shay approached Hunk, donning a simple, but beautiful brown dress and her hair tied in a tiny ponytail.

"What is wrong, Prince Hunk?" she asked in concern.

"Coran's about to die," Hunk replied.

Shay gasped. "Prince Hunk?!"

"It's fine, Shay," Hunk assured. "At least I think it is." He shook his head. "Anyway, I met K tonight."

"Really?" Shay clasped her hands. "How did it go?"

"Not so well if I can't even remember how they looked like," Hunk stared at the rest of the party guests. "I just hope K is alright. They seemed worried. Maybe I weirded them out?"

"I wouldn't say that," Shay comforted. "I may not have seen K, but you two seem very close. I'm sure K is thinking about you right now just as you are thinking of them."

Hunk looked at her in hope. "Thanks, Shay."

 

 

Queen Allura had retreated to her chambers, trying to control her giddiness over her little brother having a significant other. She bounced up and down, grabbing a pillow and dancing with it. She let herself fall on her mattress as she laughed. There was a knock on her door.

"Come in, come in!" Allura said, the smile on her face not yielding. As Coran opened the door, Allura sat up. "Ah, Coran, there you are. Just the person I wanted to see." She walked over to him and tugged his mustache. "Tell me everything you've seen so far! And don't hold anything back."

Coran coughed. "Yes, well, the Prince was...extremely happy tonight with the person he danced with."

"Oooo," Allura shook with anticipation. "Tell me more. Who was that person? Where do they come from? Do I know them?"

"Uh...I don't believe you do, your grace," Coran said. "Queen Allura, you don't by any chance remember what Prince Hunk's dancing partner looked like, do you?"

"What? That's a silly question, Coran. You were there with me. We saw together. We," Allura blinked. "Huh. You know, now that you mention it, I don't remember a single thing about them. I'm not even sure if Hunk danced with a boy or a girl." Allura tried to think. She quickly shook her head. "Well, regardless, we'll find out what they look like soon enough. You're here to tell me that Hunk has found the love of his life and they're currently in the talks of a wedding!" Allura threw her arms open.

Coran rubbed his neck. "Uh...about that..."

"....Coran?" Allura put her arms down on her legs. "You are here to tell me you found out who my little brother's love interest is, are you not?"

"I...may have sort of lost them," Coran lifted the shoe up, "and this shoe was the only thing they left behind."

Allura's face turned red. "...Pardon?"

"Prince Hunk's suitor vanished and left behind a single shoe."

Allura took a deep breath. After she did, she let out her anger.

"THEY LEFT?!" She snatched the shoe from Coran. "AND ALL THEY LEFT MY LITTLE BROTHER WAS A SINGLE SHOE?! NOT EVEN A PAIR OF SHOES! I OUGHTA HUNT THEM DOWN MYSELF AND SMACK THEM WITH THE DIRTY, FILTY, WORN OUT SHOE THEY DARED TO STAIN MY PALACE WITH!" Allura threw the shoe across the room. "AND WHEN I'M DONE SMACKING THEM, I'LL SEE TO IT THAT THEY ARE EXECUTED IN THE COURTYARD! NO ONE LEADS MY BROTHER ON BY THE HOOK AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!"

"Now, your highness, let's not rush to conclusions," Coran tried to appease the Queen. "After all, Prince Hunk seems awfully concerned about this person." Coran walked behind Allura and gave her a massage. Allura relaxed her muscles and sighed. "You're just under a lot of stress is all."

"You're right, Coran," Allura threw her head back with her eyes closed. "I just don't want Hunk to get hurt."

"And he won't. All he wants is to meet that person again. And that shoe is our only clue to finding them." Coran stopped massaging her. Allura picked up the shoe she threw and stared at its condition. 

"Whoever this person is has an eye for detail," Allura spotted her own reflection on its surface. "This shoe is flawless. I don't spot a speck of dirt on it anywhere." Allura set the shoe down. "Alright, we'll have to start a search for whoever this shoe belongs to as soon as possible. If the Prince wants to lead the search, he has permission to do so. This will be a good practice for him on leading."

With that, Queen Allura dismissed Duke Coran who then relayed the news to Prince Hunk. Prince Hunk vowed to begin preparations for the search first thing in the morning. Luckily, he had an idea on where to start.


	8. Envy's Imprisonment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith realizes the true identity of H. Unfortunately, Lance learns who danced with the Prince at the ball.

The morning after the ball, Keith served drinks and sweets to his stepsiblings in Pidge's room, his apology letter in his pants pocket. Pidge was on the floor, fixing one of her inventions while Lance took over her bed, shaking one of his legs. When Keith entered, he set the tray down on Pidge's desk and began to hand them their breakfast. 

"I didn't forget about the apology note," Keith said as he finished handing them their cups and plates. "I could begin if you'd like."

"Forget the apology letter," Lance bit into his sweet, "I'll just have you do extra chores for the next week to make up for your behavior."

Keith looked down on Pidge. "Pidge, is that really alright?"

Pidge didn't pay any attention to him as she finished making the final touches to her invention. 

"Pidge?"

"Too busy," she replied without looking up. 

"Hey, Pidge had nothing to do with lessening your punishment," Lance complained. "It was my decision to lessen your punishment. You should be saying your thanks to me."

Keith breathed out. "Thank you, Master Lance."

"Much better. You're welcome, CinderMullet." Lance sipped his drink. "Ugh, but the ball was a complete disaster."

"Oh, really? I thought it would have been a wonderful night."

"No way."

Pidge took out a chess board and laid the pieces on top. "Don't mind him. He's just upset that his flirting made the Prince wanna vomit."

Lance gasped. "That is NOT true. The Prince couldn't resist me. I saw him checking me out," Lance blinked. "Or at least, he was checking me out until that wretched stranger waltzed right in and seduced him with his evil temptation magic," Lance wiggled his fingers.

"Temptation magic? What did they look like?" Keith asked.

Pidge's invention moved what appeared to be the equivalent of its hand to push a pawn forward.

"Honestly, we have no idea," Pidge moved her piece. "I don't know how it's possible, but we can't recall a single characteristic of that boy or girl or whatever it was that danced with the Prince."

"I bet it was a demon," Lance remarked. "That's the only logical explanation."

"So, what you're saying is that a demon managed to be more charming than you?"

"Don't get smart with me, girl," Lance threw her pillow at her. 

"Wait, dumb question, but what does the Prince look like?" Keith asked. 

Lance waved his cup. "Well, he's pretty big."

"He has nice arms," Pidge handed her cup and dish to Keith before resuming her game.

"Short, dark hair, a bit of a tummy, but he wore a very expensive looking suit," Lance finished describing.

Keith froze. He felt the color escape from his face. Pidge looked up at him.

"CinderMullet, are you okay?" she asked.

"Clearly, he's been dilly dallying far too long. Get on with your chores, CinderMullet. Aside from what you have to do today, I want every counter top, vase, and whatever other antiques we have in this house spotless. Understood?"

"Yeah, got it," Keith said monotonously as he carried the tray out of the room. 

Lance and Pidge exchanged looks, Pidge shrugging her shoulders as she was unsure of what was wrong with him.

 

Keith continued to act like a zombie for the rest of the day before finally being able to retreat to the basement for the night. When he was in his room, he sat on his desk, lifting the hair out of his face, and stared at nothingness. The mice looked at him with concern.

"I spent my night with the Prince," he told them. "My penpal this whole time has been the Prince. And I called the Prince a terrible host."

One of the mice waved its paws in front of him.

"I was with the Prince," Keith emphasized. He let go, holding his hands up in awe. "I fell in love with the Prince. The Prince Hunk. Of Altea." A smile formed but quickly went back down in a frown. "But Prince Hunk has no idea who I am. And he doesn't even remember how I look like." He got out of his chair, grabbed his pillow, and screamed into it. Two of the mice lifted a pen from the desk. When he faced them again, he was confused. "You want me to write to him? How am I supposed to do that? It's not like I-" it clicked, "Actually, that might work." He took the pen from them and tried to write down the best letter he could think of to let Hunk know that he was K. 

 

Unbeknownst to Keith, Prince Hunk was in the middle of beggining his search for his beloved. He already had a general idea on where to start, although he feared of letting his big sister know that he had been sending letters to a stranger, so he had to take his time in convincing the search party why the vicinity he chose would be a good place to start. It took him a little while longer than intended, but what took the longest was bickering among the team on how to identify the dancer.

Some thought it was a ridiculous idea to have people try on the shoe as any number of people could fit right in it. Others thought that the shoe had to be customed made based on its quality, therefore, only one person would be able to fit in it. Hunk managed to reach an agreement where anyone who fit the shoe would be summoned to the palace to be tested on whether or not they truly were his beloved. News of the test was spread all over the city. It wasn't long until it reached Keith's household.

* * *

Keith had been scrubbing the floors when Lance trampled all over it in a rush.

"Out of my way, CinderMullet," Lance said as he knocked on Pidge's door. "Pidge, get out of your room this instant!"

"No way," Pidge called out from the other side. "I'm busy."

Lance opened the door as Keith peeked inside. 

"Now is not the time for being a hermit, Pidge," Lance lifted her out of bed. 

"Hey!"

"What's going on, Master Lance?"

"I'm glad you asked," Lance dug into his pockets and held out some money. "Go into town and fetch some of the finest teas and china you can find."

"Is there a particular brand you are looking for?" 

Lance rolled his eyes as he dumped the money on Keith's hands. "I don't care what you buy. As long as it looks worthy enough for company of the highest social status."

"You mean something fit for a king?"

"Exactly."

"Hey, you haven't told me what this is about," Pidge lifted her head. 

Lance continued to carry her as he opened her closet, pushing against her clothes. "The Grand Duke is going to be visiting our home. Apparently, the Prince is in search of the person he danced with last night."

"Does he remember what they looked like?"

"I don't know, but I do know that they'll be giving a test," Lance pulled out a dress before discarding it. "Whoever can fit a shoe that belonged to the dancer will be sent to the palace."

"That could be anyone."

"Exactly," Lance pulled out something that he approved of. He put Pidge down and placed the dress over her. "Get dressed. We want to look acceptable. And you," Lance pointed to Keith, "why are you still here? Chop, chop!"

Keith sped off the stairs and went out to take one of the horses with him to the market place. After he left, Lance searched for some of his best clothes. He did not want to wear the same outfit he wore to the ball, but it was the best looking attire in his entire closet. He decided to rummage through his parents' old things and found something his dad once wore. He patted the dust off of it and held it up.

"Hmm, it's definitely old fashioned," Lance commented, "but I bet I could have CinderMullet sew in some jewels on the sleeves when he gets back. Maybe I could use this to play off how dear it was for my father. If my foot fits in that shoe, I can talk to the Prince about how I, too, am an orphan. He'll have to fall in love with my tragic backstory." Lance walked out of his room with a grin. "Man I am such a genius."

Lance went downstairs and into the basement. When the mice heard his footsteps and humming, they quickly hid themselves under Keith's old shirt and lifted the folds slightly to see what was going on. Lance turned on the lamp and placed his suit on the bed. 

"Mmm, maybe I should put it somewhere more obvious," he switched it over to a chair in front of the desk. He noticed a pen and piece of paper and picked the paper up. "What's this? Since when did CinderMullet have someone to write to?" He chuckled. "Aww, I bet this is a letter to Santa Claus, asking if he can prove the existence of monsters in the forest." Lance began to read the letter. He paused when he reached the part of the letter about Keith admitting he was the one who danced with the Prince and that the Prince was actually a penpal Keith had been writing to for some time. His cheerful mood went away. He opened the drawers of the desk to find more letters exchanged between Keith and this penpal. Lance started to feel something he hadn't felt since his mother remarried: rage.

 

Keith returned to the estate, setting the china and tea down on the countertop. He opened one of the cabinets to take out the sugar and honey and practice making the tea. However, once he poured a spoonful of sugar into the cup, the drink fizzed and there was a mini explosion that came out, getting Keith's face wet.

"Pidge!"

"Yes?" Pidge replied in a sing-songy tone.

"Where did you hide the sugar?!"

"What?"

"I said: Where. Did. You. Hide. The Sugar?!"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Pidge, quit messing around. I have to make sure this tea is perfect for our visitors." Even if Keith only wanted it to be perfect for one visitor in particular. "You've made me make a mess. Now I have to clean this countertop again."

"That's your problem, not mine."

Keith grumbled as he grabbed a rag and wiped down the surface. 

"Besides, you're lucky that's all you have to do. I still haven't forgiven you for stealing my dad's stuff."

Keith stopped wiping for a second. "Pidge, I told you, I didn't know that belonged to your dad. I didn't even know you still kept your dad's old things."

Pidge didn't respond. Keith sighed.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay." He finished wiping down the countertop. He really did feel bad about wearing her dad's bow and pocket piece. Out of his stepsiblings, Keith pitied her the most. For as much of a spoiled brat she was, he knew she didn't know how to cope with losing practically all of her parental figures. Still, he wasn't too keen with her hiding the real sugar. He inspected every cabinet in the kitchen before finally finding a spare bag. Before he made the tea again, he remembered his letter to Hunk. Keith left the kitchen and into the basement. Hunk would have to believe him if he brought out their letters.

As Keith entered the basement, the mice popped out of his old shirt and squeeked at him.

"Guys, keep it down," he instructed as he went to the desk. "Someone could hear you and we could all get in trouble if someone knew you were in here." 

"Diseased rodents are the least of your problems."

Keith turned around to see Lance holding the letter he was going to send to Hunk.

"Master Lance, what are you-"

"What am I?" Lance scoffed. "More like what are you doing?" Lance looked at the paper. "'Dearest H, I have come to a realization that you were the Prince I had danced with the night of the ball.'" Lance shook his head as he looked back at Keith. "What kind of game are you playing at here, CinderMullet?"

"Master Lance, please, I'm not playing a game," Keith pleaded.

"I wouldn't have cared if you had someone to write to. You could have left in the middle of the night and I wouldn't go looking for you. But this?" Lance held the letter up. "Do you realize what you could have done to us? If the Prince knew you were nothing but a servant boy, he'd laugh. And then he'd laugh at me and Pidge for letting this happen."

"That's not true!" Keith stomped his foot. "Hunk would never judge me like that. He would never judge anyone like that!"

"How dare you address the Prince so informally?" Lance tore the letter in half. 

Keith gasped. He slammed his fist on the desk. "What is wrong with you?! All these years, I've done nothing but serve you and Pidge and you can't treat me like a decent person! What did I ever do to you?!"

Lance put a hand on his hip. "What did you do to me? You're really going to ask me that?" He scanned the room and spotted the shoes Keith would have worn to the ball. Lance knew those weren't really Keith's own, but rather his dad's. "Let me ask you something. Do you remember your mom?"

"Well yeah, we-"

"I meant your real mom!" Lance snapped.

"N-no. She died when I was still a baby."

"I remember my real dad." Lance walked past Keith and brushed his fingertips on his dad's suit. "He was a real gentleman. He knew how to treat my mom and he was always there for me. I loved my dad so much." Lance hung the suit over his arm as he walked away from Keith. "When he died, I was devastated. But I had to pretend I was alright because I knew my mom had a worse time dealing with my dad's death. I even told her that I was fine with her taking in a new rugrat." He looked at the door. "Of course, Pidge was more of an accessory for my mom to carry around, so she was fine in my book. After all, she needed a new brother and I've always wanted to be someone's role model just like my dad was for me. And then my mom met your dad." He took off an edge of one of the half papers. "She started giving all of her attention to him. And when she announced she was getting married, it got worse when she told us that you were in the picture, too!" More pieces were being ripped apart, each one falling to his feet. "You and your dad stole my mom's affection. The one thing I ever wanted from her! And your dad let her die."

"It wasn't my dad's fault!" Keith tried to approach Lance. "Look, I don't think your mom ever stopped loving your or Pidge. I think she just wanted us to get along."

"Don't give me that!" Lance dropped the paper. "You are such a coniving little thief. I still don't know why you'd rummage through my trash to get that bow and pocket piece, though." 

"You threw that away?"

"Duh. Pidge didn't have a use for those things. And once one of us gets the Prince, we won't have a use for you." Lance stepped at the entrance of the basement. "You can do whatever you want once Pidge and I live in the castle. Start a circus with your rodent friends or serve some other family, it won't matter. Just as long as you're out of my hair."

"And if the shoe doesn't fit you or Pidge? What will you do with me then?"

Lance grinned. "I don't know. Keep you, I suppose. Not like anyone's going to believe that a servant boy is the Prince's true love." Lance paused. "No. No one will believe you entranced the Prince. I may have let you take my mom from me, but you're not going to take the Prince from me, either!"

Lance shut the door and put a lockpad over it. Keith ran up to the basement's entrance and banged furiously, begging to be let out. He tried to kick the door, but it wouldn't give in. Lance blocked the entryway with an old clock that he had been meaning to get rid of, but was now grateful that he hadn't. He took to preparing the tea himself, taking it to the parlor before going back upstairs to see if Pidge was ready.


	9. If the Shoe Fits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The test to see who fits the shoe is a lot harder than what most would imagine.

Duke Coran had visited nearly every house within the vicinity of K's P.O. Box while Prince Hunk waited in the carriage. Much to their surprise, not a single person had yet to fit into the shoe. Even those whose feet appeared to be the same size as it, they could not fit their foot into the red leather shoe. As Duke Coran and Prince Hunk travelled in the carriage, Hunk looked at the shoe tenderly.

"I can't seem to figure out why no one has been able to fit into this shoe," Hunk commented. "I mean, sure it's a little small, but my kingdom is filled with people with tiny feet."

"Worry not, your highness. That just means your true love is still out there, waiting for you."

"I hope so." Hunk looked out the window. "How many more houses must we visit before we end our search in this part of the city?"

Coran lifted a scroll and hovered his pen over it. "Mm, it appears as though we only need one more house to visit, your grace."

Hunk embraced the red leather shoe tightly to his chest, hoping that K was in that last house.

* * *

Keith continued to kick and punch the door to no avail. He was panting and sweaty all over. He stumbled back and fell. 

"It's no use," Keith's bangs waved across his face, "Lance was serious about keeping me in here."

The mice gathered around Keith, looking up at him in concern.

"I don't suppose your tails can pick locks?"

They all shook their heads.

"Figures." 

The mice rested their heads on his thigh, giving him comforting pats. 

"Thanks, guys," he told them. "I don't care what Lance says, at least you four have always been there for me." He turned to look at the bells. "You know, I'm surprised Pidge hasn't rung one of them by now." He saw the bells that were connected to a piece of string that went to the ceiling. The strings that came out of tiny little holes. A system in place that connected the basement to the rest of the house. Keith got an idea. 

He searched the room for something sharp, pulling out a cutter knife and pushing his chair against the wall. He got on top of it and began chipping away one of the holes. Pieces of debris fell on the floor, some getting stuck on Keith's hair. He looked back down and estimated the size of the biggest mouse of the group. He went back to making the whole wide enough for that one to be able to fit in through. Once he was done he went back to his friends.

"Okay, I need you guys to do me a huge favor," Keith opened his hands. "Try to find a way inside the house. When you do, try to find a way for me to escape. Please."

The mice climbed on his hands. He stood back on the chair, lifting his arms up to the hole, letting them scurry away from him as they followed the strings to find any possible openings for them to enter the house through.

* * *

Pidge was fidgeting in her seat, swinging her feet on the sofa. 

"Quit moving so much," Lance pushed her feet back down. "You're supposed to be an aristocrat. Can't you show some manners?"

"Yeah, says the one who utterly failed at flirting with the Prince," Pidge shot back.

"Oh, hush," Lance poked the side of her head. "Look, one of us is bound to marry the Prince. I'm just making sure that whoever it is, we both make a good impression on the Duke that will take us to him. The better the impression, the better our chances at getting only the best lifestyle out of him. And the better the chances you'll have to having access to the royal library."

"Do you honestly believe that just because a library is 'royal' it makes it better than a university library?"

"Do you think a royal library wouldn't have information that can't be accessed by the public?"

Pidge lifted a finger before putting it back down. "Oh, alright." She sunk back in the sofa. "But can I at least ask Keith to bring me my things to entertain me while we wait? I mean, I wouldn't have to ask him if you'd just let me stay in my room until the Duke arrives."

"No, you may not," Lance quickly answered. "You are not to request Keith for the duration of this shoe test."

"And why not? You've never had a problem before with bossing him around when we've had company. Or, when you've had company."

"Because we don't need his face to disgrace us."

"Lance, I know you like making of him, but can you ease up a bit on the insults? I get that you're jealous but-"

"I am NOT jealous! If you don't want to take this test, you're free to be a recluse in your room, as usual. But if you want a chance at a better life and one where no one will bother you again, then I suggest you drop the subject and wait patiently until we are visited."

Pidge bit her lip. She had never seen Lance get this worked up at her before. She wanted to speak up, but knew that he wouldn't listen to her when he was still so emotional. There was a knock on the door. Lance got up, took a deep breath, and answered it.

"Greetings," Coran said. 

"Grand Duke Coran," Lance smiled as he stepped to the side. "Please, sit."

Coran stepped foot in the house and found his way to the living room. Pidge stood up and Lance walked next to her. 

"I'm Lance," Lance introduced, "and this young woman is my little sister, Katie."

"A pleasure to meet you, Katie," Coran bowed slightly.

Lance bumped Pidge's arm before whispering in her ear. "Give him your hand."

Pidge held her hand out. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Grand Duke."

Coran grabbed it and gave her a peck. Lance poured a cup of tea and offered it to Coran.

"Would you like some tea, Grand Duke?" 

The heat from the tea rose up in the air. Coran shook his head.

"I appreciate the offer, but I'm afraid I'm on a tight schedule as it is. Now," he presented them with the red leather shoe, "I've done this numerous times throughout the day and have yet to find anyone that has passed. I'll go over the rules quickly. All you have to do is slip your foot into this shoe. If it fits anyone in this household, you are to come with me back to the castle. If not, then I will be on my way."

"Out of curiosity, how many have passed this test?" Pidge asked.

Coran adjusted his monocle. "Well, if I've done the math right, I'd say exactly zero have been able to fit their foot in the shoe."

Lance formed a wicked grin before leaning down to whisper to Pidge, "Then there's still hope." He was about to offer his foot, but Pidge pushed him aside.

"Ladies first," she remarked.

 

Pidge sat back down on the sofa as Coran slipped the slipped the shoe on her foot. She was able to get her foot in, but it still didnt' quite fit. While her toes could reach the tip of the shoe, her heel didn't touch the other side. Her foot was too small. She rose up, acting as though it did.

"Hah, it fits!" she boasted.

"Uh, Miss Katie," Coran tried to speak up.

"It's okay, Duke Coran," Pidge walked around, trying to keep her foot in place inside the shoe, "I can escort myself to the carriage."

"Miss Katie."

Pidge bounced a bit. "You know, I've always been interested in the sort of books Prince Hunk reads. Maybe we'll be able to read some great ones together. Or build our own library. Or-"

"Pidge!" Lance shouted.

"What?"

He pointed downward. She looked down to see that the shoe had easily came off her foot.

"Well.....you know, that is how I lost it in the first place...," Pidge tried to reason.

"Nice try, young lady," Coran picked up the shoe and pulled out a rag from his pocket as he cleaned the inside of it, "but Prince Hunk told me very specifically that the person he was with had taken off their shoes prior to leaving and that they were carrying them as they left the palace. You may be seated, Miss Katie."

Pidge pouted and slammed herself on the couch, silently cursing her tiny feet.

Lance stretched his leg forward, tipping his foot down expectanctly. "Well, Duke Coran, it looks like it's my turn. I mean, I already know the answer, but I just want to show my sister how it's done."

Coran sighed as he took Lance's foot and tried to slip in the red leather shoe. However, there was difficulty in that as his heel stuck out at the end of the shoe. Lance's foot was too big. Lance gave an awkward laugh.

"I guess I must have done some growing since the ball."

"I'm sorry, sir, but your foot does not fit the shoe."

Lance furrowed his brows. "Move it, Grand Duke. I'll show you." He shooed Coran away as he forced his foot inside the red leather shoe. His cheeks were puffed out as he squeezed his foot inside. He seemingly managed to make it work as he showed off his foot.

"See? I told you so."

"My word, it actually fits!" Coran cried out.

"It fits?!" Pidge looked at her brother skeptically.

Lance kept his smug expression. "Hmph. Told you it would fit. Now, when we get to the castle, I'll be needing to use the castle spa to freshen up my face and skin before meeting the Prince. My new room should not be smaller than the master bedroom in this house, I do need the space for my morning exercises. I'll also be requiring a band to play soothing music to wake me up every morning and play it again at night to lull me to sleep. And-" Before Lance could finish listing off his requests, the shoe flung away from his foot, spiralling out of the living room. Lance gave an awkward laugh as Coran and Pidge stared at him in discontent.

 

All the while that was happening, the mice managed to follow the strings to a hole in the wall on the second floor. When they emerged, they found themselves in the art room, where the door wasn't fully closed. They ran out the door and through the hall, jumping down the stairs. Once they got back to the main floor, they huddled close and tried to think of a way to get Keith out of the basement. One of the mice went over to the clock that was blocking the basement's entry way while another mouse went to spy on what was going on in the living room. All of them jumped when they saw the red leather shoe hurling their way. However, they also saw it as an opportunity to lure the Duke to the clock. As the shoe was planted facedown, the largest mouse buried itself underneath it. 

In the meantime, Coran got up and out of the parlor. 

"And there are no other persons living in this household?" he asked as he cleaned his monocle.

"I'm afraid not, Grand Duke," Lance answered.

Pidge looked up at Lance. "Afraid not? What are-" Lance quickly covered her mouth.

"Your imaginary friend doesn't count, sister dear." He bowed to Coran. "Forgive her. She has quite the active imagination." 

Before Coran could grab the shoe, it left out of his grasp.

"I must have an active imagination, too, if I believe I'm seeing a shoe run off on its own."

Pidge and Lance hurried out to see the shoe leaving them and headed in the direction of the basement. They all followed it until it slammed itself on the base of the clock. Lance took careful steps to grab the shoe, but screamed as he saw one of the mice underneath it.

"AAHH!" He hid behind Pidge. "What is that doing here?!"

"You have a mice infestation, Sir Lance?" Coran questioned.

"Keith must have pulled an awful prank on us!" Lance cried out.

"Keith? Who's Keith?" Coran asked.

"Uh...no one important, your grace," Lance popped up behind Pidge. "He's just a servant of the household."

"And does he live here?"

"No....I don't really know where he lives. Sorry," he shrugged.

Pidge stepped on his foot. "Quit it, Lance!" She faced the duke. "I'm sorry, Duke Coran. But there really is-"

"No one else in this household," Lance cut her off. "And it will only be me if my sister insists on letting her imagination get the best of her."

There was a banging sound that came from behind the clock. 

"What in the world?" Coran pushed the clock away to reveal a door. "My word, how long has that been here?"

"Uh..."

The door swung open, causing all three to jump. Before it could close again, a hand grabbed it and out emerged a worn out, stain-faced Keith. He came out, shooting a glare at Lance before softening his face to greet the Duke.

"Forgive me," Keith apologized, "but I'd like to try the shoe on now."

"Why of course-"

"NOT!" Lance stood in between the Duke and Keith. "As I stated before, this servant does not live here. I don't know how he got stuck in the basement like that. I can only assume he locked himself in there by accident. But, you don't need to try the shoe on him," Lance tried to push Coran away, but he stepped aside, leaving Lance to nearly trip over.

"Sir Lance, my orders were to have every person residing in my assigned households try on the shoe," Coran peered in to the basement, noticing the bed, desk, and closet, "and by the looks of it, this young man does indeed reside here."

"But I-"

"That is enough out of you," Coran held his hand out to Keith. "Would you care to follow me into the parlor so that we may try on the shoe?"

Keith smiled. "With pleasure."

They all returned to the living room, including the mice, as Keith took a seat on one of the couches. He lifted his foot up and Coran slipped the shoe in. It was neither too tight nor too loose on Keith. Keith's foot was just right. 

Pidge gasped and bowed her head. "I am so sorry, Keith. Please forgive us."

Lance scoffed before taking his hand out. "Well, I suppose you succeeded in stealing everything from me. Again. Congratulations, CinderMullet."

Keith swiped Lance's hand away. "Save it. And my name is Keith. Not CinderMullet."

"Whatever," Lance turned away. "At least I still own this estate."

"I wouldn't say that," a mysterious voice echoed.

A flash of light appeared, blinding everyone until is dissipated to reveal Shiro.

"Shiro?" Keith asked.

"Who's this guy?" Pidge looked on in confusion. 

"I'm Keith's fairy godbrother," Shiro explained before turning to Keith to say, "Sorry I didn't come earlier."

"Hey, it's okay," Keith put a hand on Shiro's shoulder, "you kept your word."

Pidge pulled Shiro's robe from behind. "What kind of fairy doesn't have wings?"

Shiro pulled his robes away from her fingers. "Not all fairies have robes, you know." He straightened himself up. "And as for you," he pointed his wand to Lance, "how dare you claim to be the owner of this estate?"

"Well, I am," Lance said. "I don't see why you're here. Keith's already going to be with the Prince. He doesn't need you to help him anymore, assuming you were the one who gave him that atrocious makeover."

"Actually, I am here because I cannot allow your injustice to continue."

"Injustice?" Coran adjusted his monocle.

Shiro waved his wand to reveal the will of Lance and Keith's parents. He summoned a giant magnifying glass to reveal that ownership of the estate was to go to both Lance AND Keith. Everyone gasped as they all turned to Lance.

"Well, I mean," Lance felt himself sweating, "Keith wasn't even born as an upperclass citizen. He shouldn't get something that he wouldn't have gotten otherwise."

"He does deserve it when his father married your mother," Shiro scolded. "You should be ashamed of yourself. Your mother would be disappointed."

Lance huffed. 

"If that is the case," Coran spoke, "then we shall look into this matter more once we head to the castle. Looks like you'll be coming with us after all, Lance. With handcuffs, of course."

Lance tried to make a run for it, but Shiro waved his wand to summon a restraint suit on him. Lance fell down before he was hovered back to the others. 

"Shall I take this one to the castle, your grace?" Shiro asked. 

"You may," Coran approved.

"I wanna come, too," Pidge said. "Please."

"Very well. Stay close."

Shiro made sure everyone was in position before he teleported them to the castle. However, before he could use his magic, Pidge had questions that she desperately wanted answers to.

"So, wait, if your Keith's fairy godbrother, why didn't you come to him earlier?"

"I don't get to decide when I go to my clients. You can complain about that to my higher ups."

"So, there's like a league of fairy godrelatives?"

"Short answer: yes."

"Okay, but if you have all this magic, why not have everyone remember what Keith looked like the night of the ball? We could have been saved a lot of trouble of finding him. Heck, you could have even put his name and address on the shoes and it would have made things even easier, especially if these shoes are meant for him. And now that I think about it, couldn't you have just taken Keith to the castle where he and the Prince could have met and-"

Shiro glared at her. "You know I can turn you into a frog, right?" 

"Right."

With a wave of his wand, the fairygodbrother and stepsiblings disappeared from the house. Once they left, there was a knock on the front door.

"Come in," Keith shouted.

From the front door came Hunk.

"Coran, what's taking so long?" he asked. "I thought you would have been done by now." Hunk stopped in his tracks as he noticed Keith. Keith was in rags, his face was stained with soot, and his hair covered in debris. But Hunk didn't pay attention to any of that. There was a flicker of determination in Keith's eyes, his body looked ready to endure anything that would be thrown at it, and there was a softness to his face that made it seem like Keith maintained a level of gentleness in his persona. Hunk looked down to see one of the Keith's feet inside the red leather shoe.

Keith blushed, and bowed slightly. "Hunk, I'm sorry about all those things I said about you that night," he looked back up. "I had no idea you were the prince." Keith averted his gaze from Hunk's. "And I know I don't look like much. Actually, I've never been considered a member of high society until now, but I-"

Hunk covered Keith's cheek with his hand, rubbing circles around the dirt before moving in and giving him a kiss on the lips. As he pulled his face back, he continued to rub Keith's face. 

"I finally found you," Hunk said. "My K."

"Keith."

"Huh?"

"My name...it's Keith," Keith gave Hunk a small smile. 

"Keith? I like that name. I should name a dish after you. My Keith." 

Hunk and Keith moved in for another kiss. There was a sparkle of light that surrounded them, Keith's debris-filled hair and dirt ridden face being cleared up, as well as the other red leather shoe being put on his foot. Coran pulled out a tissue and wiped his eyes as he sniffed. Keith and Hunk finally found one another and couldn't wait to take their relationship to the next step. 


	10. Next Step

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Hunk have to get ready for what comes next as Lance and Pidge await to see if they've been forgiven or not.

After their embrace, Keith picked up his mice friends and introduced them to Hunk as they walked into the carriage.

"Hunk, these are the friends I was telling you about."

The mice all waved at Hunk. Hunk awed at them, rubbing one of their tiny heads with his finger.

"Aww, they are so cute," Hunk cooed. "What are their names?"

"Their names?"

"Yeah."

"Uh...I never actually got around to finding out their names."

Hunk gasped. "Keith, what have you been calling them?"

"Either 'guys' or 'friends.'"

Hunk shook his head. "This won't do. We'll come up with names for you guys yet. I promise."

The mice squeaked in anticipation. Coran decided to sit in the front with the driver to give the lovebirds some time to catch up before they reached the castle. The mice sat across from Hunk and Keith, sitting comfortably on the cushions. 

Hunk held Keith close to him, keeping Keith's head close to his chest. Keith wrapped his arms around Hunk and looked out the window, watching the buildings and people go by. 

"I can't believe we're finally together," Hunk said. "I was getting scared that I'd never find you."

"Same," Keith shifted his weight. "I really hope you weren't offended when I said all those things about...you...the prince?"

Hunk chuckled. "It's cool, man. I feel bad that I can't remember how you looked like at the ball."

"Eh, a spell was put on me so that I couldn't be discovered by my stepsiblings."

"A spell?" Hunk looked down at Keith. "You mean magic?"

"Oh yeah, you weren't inside when he showed up. I know this is going to sound weird, but I have a fairy godbrother and he took my stepsiblings to the castle where my stepbrother is waiting to answer for not letting me know that I was co-owner of our estate for years."

"Oh my gosh," Hunk put a hand on his head, "fairies are real..."

"Yeah, I was shocked, too."

"I guess that means monsters in the woods can be real, too," Hunk shivered and bit his fingers.

Keith took his hand and kissed it. "It's okay. I won't let any monsters hurt you."

Hunk kissed Keith's hand back. "I won't let them hurt you, either. From now on, I've got your back. I promise." The couple continued holding each other for the rest of the ride. However, a thought occurred to Hunk's head. "Oh, so when you meet my sister, she might seem a little intimidating, what with her being the Queen and all, but I promise that she's actually a sweet and kind person."

"I doubt she's worse than my stepsiblings."

The carriage came to a stop. The door was opened for them. Keith picked up the mice and Hunk helped them out of the carriage. 

 

Keith was offered a change of clothes that made him look more presentable for an audience with the Queen. Not since the ball had Keith worn anything so fanciful in years. He was a bit surprised by how it looked on him. 

"You look handsome," Hunk commented from the doorway.

"Hunk," Keith turned around. He tucked a hair behind his ear. "Do you really think so?"

"I know so."

Keith looked at himself in the mirror again. "What if I mess up, though? I haven't exactly dined with nobility, much less royalty. I don't want to ruin things for us or leave a bad impression on your sister."

Hunk walked next to him. "Hey," he held his hand, "it's gonna be alright. Even if, for whatever reason, things don't go smoothly, I'm determined to continue our relationship one way or another. I never want us to be alone again."

"Yeah, I appreciate that."

"Your grace," Shay entered the room.

"Oh, Keith, this is Shay. She's a friend of mine and works as the castle courier. She's also the one that helped me get involved with the penpal program in the first place."

"It's an honor to meet you," Shay said.

"The pleasure's mine," Keith responded. "What's up?"

"I'm actually here to tell you both that the Queen is ready to see you now."

They looked at each other and left the room together, hand in hand.

 

Hunk and Keith entered the room, a long, rectangular table laid out with several seats on one side and a smaller throne on the other side. Atop the smaller throne was Queen Allura, dressed regally and adorning her bejeweled crown, a sceptar in hand. Hunk covered his eyes.

"Oh no," he said softly.

"What's wrong?" Keith whispered. 

"Please don't feel intimidated. She's just trying to scare you."

"Well, I-"

"Please," Allura pointed the sceptar forward, "sit down, you two."

They took one last glance at each other before sitting before the Queen. Allura set her sceptar down, all the while looking down on Keith.

"So, you are the one who danced with my brother," she noted. "What is your name, good sir?"

Keith bowed his head lightly. "My name is Keith, your majesty."

Allura put her palm up. "Please, there is no need for your bowing. I'd like to know what your intentions are with my brother."

"My intentions?"

"Yes. You did leave the ball suddenly and left behind a shoe. Was that your intention?"

"No, your grace," Keith tried to reason. "I....I don't know if you'd believe me if I told you why I had to leave."

"Try me."

"Allura, I don't know. I was told about what happened, and even then I needed some context," Hunk tried to reason.

"What kind of context?"

"The context of how I got to that point in time," Keith answered.

Allura leaned back. "I do enjoy a good story. But it better be one worth sitting through. Start from your beginning. This will be a good chance for me to get to know the person who has stolen my brother's heart."

Keith told Allura of his past, how he initially grew up in the country with his beloved father before moving in to the city with his stepfamily. How his father and stepmother tragically passed away and how he became a servant to his stepsiblings. How all of that led up to the night of the ball where he was visited by his fairy godbrother who helped him get to the ball. The more he spoke, the more invested she became, literally sitting at the edge of her seat, waiting for him to get to where they currently were. Once he was done explaining, Allura nodded.

"I see," she recomposed herself. "Although, I must ask, how did you know my brother? You obviously had no idea he was the Prince, but how did you know he was the one you were searching for?"

Before Keith could answer, Hunk made a confession to his sister.

"Because we had written to each other for some time." He put his hands on his knees. "I took part in a penpal program, where I used a general P.O. Box and the pseudonym H so as not to reveal who I really was." He looked at her with glassy eyes. "I'm sorry, Allura. I didn't mean to go behind your back or anything."

Allura tapped the armrest of her small throne. "There's nothing I can do about that now, is there?"

Hunk gulped.

"However," Allura ceased her tapping, "I can't say I'm disappointed either."

"Your grace?" Keith blinked.

She softened the expression on her face. "I know your story sounds made up and it would have been easy for you to come up with a more plausible sounding story. While I would like to meet this fairy godbrother of yours to be sure that your story is true, I believe your heart is in the right place. You got to know Hunk as a person before his title. You could see a person's true value and you give respect to those who have earned it. There is still much we must discuss, especially if you are to continue courting the Prince. But for now, rest assured that you have my blessing to stand by my brother's side."

"Your highness..."

Coran entered the room, Shiro behind him.

"Queen Allura, there's someone here who would like to speak with you."

"Perfect timing," Keith said under his breath.

Shiro went over to the table and bowed. "You must be Queen Allura of Altea. A pleasure to meet you."

"Why didn't you just teleport in the room?" Keith asked.

Shiro took a deep breath. "I just thought it would be more polite to enter normally." He pulled his wand out. "But I can prove my magic if need be."

"That won't be necessary," Allura made clear. "Hunk, you and Keith are excused. I still need to ask this fairy some questions before we can decide on what to do."

"Yeah, sure," Hunk grabbed Keith's hand and the two left the room.

 

They felt a huge weight lifted from their shoulders. They laughed and Hunk carried Keith across the castle in excitement. They made their way to the kitchen where Hunk introduced Keith to the kitchen staff and they got to working on a cake in celebration. As they baked, everyone in the kitchen playfully flicked scoops of icing towards one another, pretending to be at war. When they were done, they all did their part in cleaning up. It would still be a while before the cake was finished, so Hunk scooped Keith in his arms and took him to his room. 

Hunk made sure to bring back bits of food from the kitchen to the mice who were currently residing on their own little cushion. The mice gave squeaks of gratitude as they ate away while Hunk and Keith sat down on the floor, their arms around each other. 

 

It was evening when they were brought before the Queen again, this time meeting her at the dining hall over dinner. Keith noticed Shiro was nowhere to be seen.

"Queen Allura, where did Shiro go?" Keith asked.

"Worry not, Keith," Allura placed a napkin on her lap, "he convinced me of everything I needed to know."

"Do you know when he'll be back?"

"He'll return," she gave him a sympathetic smile. "He has not forgotten his promise to you."

Keith sighed in relief. He and Hunk sat on opposite ends of the table next to the Queen. As food was being served to them, Allura addressed them.

"As you both know, there are certain conditions that must come with entering a relationship with royalty. As much as I want to, I cannot allow you to rush things. Especially when there is the matter of proper training."

"Allura," Hunk clasped his hands together, "Keith can be considered some type of aristocrat since his dad married a rich lady. Surely that shouldn't deter him from-"

"I was not referring to that," Allura clarified. "Whether or not Keith is of high social standing does not matter. What does matter is that he must be ready to take on the responsibilities of ruling Altea should the day come where you both must reign. And you, little brother, also have much training to do. What I would like to do is ensure that both of you complete the necessary training and education needed for taking the throne. Once you have both finished, you may get married as soon as your hearts desire. That is what I expect from you. Are you willing to take these steps to be together?"

Grins formed on their faces and they raised fist bumps in the air.

"Yes! Of course I am!" Keith answered.

Allura gave a small chuckle. "Good."

Just then, Keith felt something tug at his pants. He looked down at the table to see the mice. His face froze.

"Keith, what's wrong?" Hunk asked.

"Uh...nothing...."

Allura lifted the table cover to see four colorful mice. 

"Your highness, I can explain," Keith tried to speak up.

However, to his surprise, it was Allura's turn to get excited.

"Aw, how precious!" The mice turned their attention to her. She extended her hand to them. "Come here, little mice. Don't be afraid." They climbed on top as she brought them to the table. "Are these your friends?" 

"Yes, your highness."

"What are their names?"

"I'm not sure to be honest," Keith answered, his expression dumbfounded by what was going on.

"That will not do!" She pointed to the green one first. "I shall call you Platt," then the one with blue fur and red eyes, "you can be Plachu," followed by the pink one, "Chuchule," and finally the smallest one with blue fur, "and Chulatt." The mice squeaked in agreement. "Keith, would you mind if I kept them in my room for tonight?"

"Uh...," he looked down on the mice who were clearly concerned about leaving Keith alone. Keith smiled. "Yeah, it's fine."

The mice rejoiced. However, Chuchule and Plachu stood before Keith, making little gestures and poses.

"What are they saying?" Hunk asked.

"They're wondering what happened to my stepsiblings," Keith answered. "Which, I don't know. Do you know, Queen Allura?"

"Your stepbrother is currently in one of the castle dungeons while your stepsister has been waiting for him outside bars," Allura explained. "Some of my officers are looking into the matter of your household situation and who the true owner of that estate is. I believe it would be best for you and Hunk to decide the best course of action to take for your stepsiblings. I realize you've had a difficult life, which is why I'd like you to choose suitable arrangements for them."

"Can I choose anything?"

"Yes."

"Hm...I think beheading sounds right," Keith smiled.

"Keith, no!" Hunk begged.

Keith laughed. "I'm just kidding," he soothed Hunk's knuckles. "But I do want them to be punished."

"I know, sweetie."

 

Keith and Hunk discussed the matter further after dinner. Hunk was sympathetic towards Keith's situation, but believed that his stepfamily could be given another chance at redemption. The two finally settled on something that made them both happy. The next morning, Lance and Pidge were escorted to the same room Keith had been judged by the Queen at, with Allura allowing him and Hunk to have their own miniature set of thrones set up. Lance and Pidge looked at the two nervously, awaiting to see what was in store for them.

Keith did not show a sign that his frown would go away as Hunk also looked at them angrily. Lance spoke first.

"Keith, buddy, my man," Lance said. "You know I would never do anything to actually hurt you, right? I've got your back, just like you've got mine," he lightly punched Keith's arm. "Right?"

"Lance, sit down."

Lance and Pidge took their seats.

"So, you're the one who tried to stop me, the Prince, from finding my beloved," Hunk said. 

"Well, you see," Lance tried to excuse himself, "I didn't exactly stop you per say."

Pidge kicked Lance's foot. "Knock it off," she hissed. 

"You know, we also found something interesting, Sir Lance," Hunk continued. "We found out that Keith was supposed to have co-ownership of the estate. Is that not true?"

Lance stretched his collar. "I mean, sure. I just...didn't know any better. You see your grace, for as gorgeous as I am, I'm afraid I lacked brains and common sense as a child. Luckily, now that I'm older, I can see that I was wrong and that Keith should also hold ownership and maybe show mercy to his dear family."

Keith uncrossed his legs and got up. "Since when were you my family?"

"Uh..."

Keith placed a hand on the table. "You know you can go to jail, right?"

Lance looked down. "Yeah...."

"But you don't have to," Hunk brought up.

"Huh?" Lance looked back up. "You mean, you're gonna forgive me and let me live in the castle?" He grinned.

"Oh, you'll be living in the castle alright," Keith said, "but you're gonna have to work for my forgiveness."

"Work?" Pidge questioned.

"Yes, work. And you'll have to work too, if you want access to the castle library," Keith pointed out.

"And how exactly do you expect us to work for forgiveness?" Lance crossed his arms.

Keith signaled Hunk to bring out a pair of uniforms that were laid on the table. Lance picked up one of them with disgust.

"What is this?"

"Those are your new uniforms," Keith answered. "If you want to live the high life of the castle, you both need to work as servants for at least a year."

"At least?!" Lance dropped the uniform.

"Yes, at least. Hunk and I will evaluate your progress by one year's time. If we're not satisfied, you'll have to keep working until we are."

"But that could take years!"

"Then you better change into this uniform now," Keith threw it at his chest. "Grand Duke Coran will escort you to the servants' chambers."

"You know you're shooting yourself in the foot with this," Pidge complained as she grabbed her uniform. "Neither of us knows how to clean, so we'd just be making things worse."

"It's called learning," Hunk retorted. 

Lance and Pidge grumbled under their breaths as they walked away. Keith, however, had one more thing to say.

"Pidge, wait. I need a minute with you. Without Lance."

Lance chuckled. "Hah, looks like you're in more trouble than I am."

"Shut up," Pidge hissed.

Lance walked out of the room as Pidge returned to Keith.

"What is it?"

Keith took out a box and pushed it towards her. She took the lid off, her eyes and mouth widening in surprise. She pulled out a few trinkets that were inside, ranging from a marble necklace to two pairs of glasses. The last thing she revealed from inside was a miniature telescope that fit in the palm of her hand.

"This is...," Pidge turned the telescope over to see her name, her real name, inscribed. 

Keith looked solemnly at her. "While we were digging around the house, I found this in Lance's bedroom. I knew you should have it."

Pidge caressed the telescope before looking back at Keith. She crawled underneath the table and gave him a hug. 

"Thank you, Keith," she whispered, trying to hold back tears. "You don't know how much this means to me."

Keith patted her head and rubbed her back. "I know."

When she pulled away she wiped her eyes. "I guess I should be going now." She put the telescope back in the box and placed her uniform on top. "And Keith," she looked back at him, "I'm sorry."

"I know," Keith smiled. 

"You've probably forgiven me already, haven't you?"

"Mhmm."

"But you're not gonna let me off the hook that easy, are you?"

"Nope." 

"Jerk."

"Brat."

Pidge shook her head smiling as she finally left the room. 

"Aw, that was one of the cutest and strangest things I've ever seen," Hunk said.

Keith pulled Hunk closer to him. "Yeah, but it is what it is." Keith patted Hunk's chest. "I'm going to enjoy the next year."


	11. Work Paid Off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone puts in the work to achieve their happy ending.

Keith became invested in his studies on becoming a proper ruler. Although Hunk was ahead of him by a few lessons, the two helped each other out and explained things in a clear way for one or the other to understand. When they weren't studying, the two would read up on old mythologies and exchange ideas on where monsters lied in Altea. They tried more than once to ask Shiro if there were indeed monsters or other magical beings aside from fairies, but he was quick to avoid answering such questions. Keith didn't mind as it meant he and Hunk could discover such secrets together, which he found to be a lot more fun. 

Platt, Chulatt, Plachu, and Chuchule grew an attachment to Queen Allura, doing what they could to help relieve her of her stress. They still spent time with Keith, but as Keith looked more content with where his life was, they dedicated themselves to helping those in need that were inside the castle. Allura was glad to have such companions by her side and she used them to make sure all those that were under her service were happy and that there was no corruption or ill-will in those with more power than others. 

Lance and Pidge continued to work as servants of the castle for the year they were assigned. Although they had their complaints at the beggining, they eventually grew accustomed to their duties. Keith took advantage of requesting their service every so often and made it a point to have them perform ridiculous, albeit harmless, requests to make them learn their lesson. A lesson they quickly learned after he asked them to rearrange the furniture in his room twice in the same day and to retrieve items that were standing right outside his doorway. Despite working as a punishment, Lance and Pidge ended up making friends with the rest of the maids and manservants. What was most unexpected was that Lance found true love in a maid named Plaxum, who also showed Lance the error of his ways. Through her, Lance realized how wrongfully he had acted towards Keith growing up and went as far as to beg for Keith's forgiveness before the year was up. Keith forgave Lance and tried alleviate the punishment, but Lance wanted to see his punishment to the end. After the year was up, Lance and Pidge were finally able to enjoy the comforts of living as royalty, but Lance saw to it that Plaxum joined them as well. By that point, no one found it surprising that the pair were married soon after, although Keith and Pidge took great joy in teasing Lance about the irony of the situation. 

Keith had been given full ownership of the estate, which he opted on transforming into an orphanage. Pidge, after being granted access to the castle library and proving her worth to highly elite scholars, decided to work as an instructor for the orphanage, using her inventions to get her students invested in learning and taking them on field trips to encourage them to explore more of Altea. Hunk would sometimes volunteer as a cook for the children that resided there, while Keith enjoyed telling them monster stories with happy endings. 

Hunk and Keith eventually passed their training and studies, making their loved ones proud. At their celebration party, Hunk took Keith to the same gazebo they retreated to the night of the ball and got on one knee, holding out a red velvet cupcake that had a ring on the center, and asked for his hand in marriage. Keith threw his arms around Hunk and proclaimed yes before they shared the cupcake and announced their engagement to the others.

 

The day of their wedding was a day worth waiting for. All of their closest friends and family were in attendance as were the orphans of the orphanage. Coran served as the one to unite Hunk and Keith as husband and husband while Allura stepped up to dub Keith the new Co-Prince of Altea. The guests bowed to Keith once his crown was placed on his head while Hunk turned Keith to face him.

"Feeling excited to be married to a prince?" Keith asked.

"I feel elated to finally have you as my husband," Hunk responded before pulling him in for a kiss. 

There was cheering in the crowd as Keith and Hunk ran out of the altar and into the carriage where they would be taken on their honeymoon. They enjoyed their trip in bliss, enjoying every minute they had with each other. When they returned, they resumed their duties as Princes of Altea with the knowledge that they would always have each other's back. 

In time, Shay was chosen to become the surrogate for their children, a role she was more than happy to fill and even extended her role to becoming an aunt figure to the young ones. Hunk and Keith were thrilled to start a new family and did everthing in their power to be loving, caring, and attentive to their children as well as teach them the value of hard work, determination, and love. When the children were a little older, Queen Allura passed on her title of leadership and promoted Hunk and Keith to Kings of Altea. 

Needless to say, no one ever called Keith "CinderMullet" again, a nickname Keith was more than glad to be rid of. And whenever he or Hunk recounted the story of their lives, they made sure to end each recollection with the famous phrase that couldn't have been more fitting: they all lived happily ever after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this story wasn't very long, but I was still happy to write for it. I enjoyed writing each chapter, excited to see how I would make things play out. If you'd like to continue supporting me as a writer, consider purchasing my short story, "What Remains" on Amazon and leave a review if you do happen to check it out. The link to that will be right here: 
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/What-Remains-Sydney-Fregozo/dp/1521461678/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505451871&sr=8-1&keywords=what+remains+by+sydney+fregozo
> 
> But more importantly, I'd like to thank you, the reader, for taking the time to read this fic and I hope you look forward to more of my writings in the future. Your support and attention is very much appreciated.


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